Wembley, September 10: Vengeance could not have been sweeter. Fabio Capello insisted last night that England dared believe they could win the 2010 World Cup after replacing memories of the rain and the misery of the Euro 2008 elimination of two years ago with a display resplendent in creativity.
“Yes, why not?” said the England manager when asked after the 5-1 win over Croatia if England were contenders to win the tournament. “We have to play to win because we are England. We are one of the best teams in the world who can play against all the teams out there. This is my opinion, my idea. We have to play always with the spirit we played this evening.”
The night was marred by Bolton’s Ivan Klasnic spitting at John Terry on the final whistle. “It’s not a nice reaction,” said Terry, who immediately appealed to the referee about the incident. “He came on frustrated, but it’s not nice at all. He’s the first person [to have] spat at me in my career but let’s not let it ruin a massive night.”
–Agencies