England’s star players are struggling to cope with the pressure of a World Cup according to coach Fabio Capello who is hoping they can pull themselves together for the crunch match against Slovenia.
Capello admitted it wasn’t good and said the huge pressure of expectation to deliver their first title since 1966 was taking its toll. “Yes, I think the pressure of the World Cup exists,” he said.
“These players are training very well. But these two games were not the same team I know. I hope to see on Wednesday the real England team. I remember when I first started to be England manager, I saw the same thing when we played at Wembley — we forgot to play without fear and with confidence,” he said.
“It was incredible the mistakes we made. It was incredible for the level of the England players,” Capello added.
The team struggled to find any rhythm and gave the ball away far too easily, with none of the players, who looked tired and devoid of creativity, standing out.
“We missed a lot of balls when we should have controlled them. We missed a lot of passes. We missed everything,” the Italian added.
Asked if England could still win the World Cup, Capello hesitated, then said: “I think, no I hope, that after a big performance the minds of the players will break free and then we can play like the England that I know.”
The team returns to their training base in Rustenburg to try and work out what to do. — AFP