Capello embraces World Cup fever ahead of finals draw
Friday December 04 2009
With his granite jaw and unflinching manner, Fabio Capello would at first glance appear immune to the giddy condition known as World Cup fever.
However, arriving at Cape Town international airport yesterday to the sound of drums and a backdrop of billboards advertising the greatest show on earth, the England manager was whisked into the swing of things.
"It's starting, yes," Capello said as he looked ahead to this evening's draw at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. "For me, it is the first time as a manager I have breathed the atmosphere of the World Cup, the sensation. The airport, the people, the FIFA World Cup, Bafana Bafana (the nickname of the South Africa team) -- it's exciting, yes.
"This is new for me. As a player, it was different because you think for yourself. Now you have to think of more things, decide more things, check more things. The next five months will be really important to decide everything."
Capello is not the type to leave things to the last minute. Many of the preparations are in place -- concern over the quality of training pitches at the planned training complex in Rustenburg notwithstanding -- but it is only this evening that the teams will discover their opponents in the group stage next June, and then the tournament will come alive in the minds of supporters across the world.
The excitement is more than shared by the coaching fraternity, who assembled by the pool at the Cullinan Hotel for a drinks reception yesterday before a gala dinner hosted by Fifa.
Diego Maradona was not present, having been banned from all football activities until January 15 after his foul-mouthed outbursts at journalists in the wake of Argentina's qualification. However, there was Marcello Lippi, the Italy coach, elegant as ever; Joachim Low, of Germany, looking like Iggy Pop's more soberly dressed brother in his trusty white shirt; and Dunga, the Brazil coach, with a leather bag slung over his shoulder and flip-flops. It was quite a fashion show.
Capello squirmed when asked what he thought of the possibility of facing his native Italy, the holders, later in the competition, but Lippi revealed that the two of them had discussed the prospect over a drink.
"I met Fabio in the hotel when I arrived and we sat down and had a beer together," Lippi said. "Both of us would like to meet again just before the final on July 11. We agreed that we deserved to be here in South Africa and that the only shame was that the third great Italian coach, Giovanni (Trapattoni, the Ireland manager), is not in South Africa."
France felt aggrieved that they, like Portugal, lost out to Capello's team when the seedings were announced -- calculated purely on the basis of positions in the FIFA world rankings in October -- and it will be those two countries whom England and the other top sides will be desperate to avoid when the teams are drawn from pot four, containing the non-seeded European qualifiers, this evening.
Threats lurk everywhere in this draw, with the African teams, such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, obvious threats. But several top coaches also believe that there is less to fear than there might normally be.
Although countries such as Argentina, France and Portugal qualified after overcoming poor starts to their campaigns, perennial dark horses such as Croatia, Russia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Ukraine are missing -- effectively replaced in the European pot by the less obviously fearsome quintet of Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia and Greece.
Beyond his lauding of Ivory Coast, Capello was not keen to talk up the threat posed by any potential opponents, but it is safe to say that he would be happier with a group containing Slovenia, Algeria and New Zealand than one containing France, Ivory Coast and Mexico.
"I think about the Africans. I saw the Ivory Coast and they are a very strong team -- I saw them play against Germany," said Capello. "The spirit of this team is to go forward, sometimes they have some problems when they have to defend, but all the players are really good technically, and it's not easy to play against."
Irrespective of which teams England end up with in their group, Capello is looking forward to it. "I want to reach the final. I have big confidence in my team, always," he said. (© The Times, London)
World Cup draw, live, RTE 2/BBC 2, 6.0
- Oliver Kay in CAPE TOWN
Irish Independent
