10 June 2008
VIDEO: Fabio Capello in Austria

After seeing Croatia overcome Austria, Fabio Capello talks about his plans for England's World Cup qualifiers in September.

Having watched Croatia begin Euro 2008 with a narrow victory, Fabio Capello says that spirit and mentality will be key if England are to overcome their World Cup qualifying opponents in September.

Despite scoring after just four minutes, Slaven Bilic's side were put under pressure by co-hosts Austria and edged a tense affair by the single strike from Luka Modric - and Capello says the result shows the Croat's strength of character.

Capello said: "Croatia are a good team with good organisation and they are a strong group. In the last half-an-hour against Austria their spirit was very important.

"It will not be an easy game, but we have to win against Croatia."

Those qualities will have to be demonstrated by England if they are to be victorious in September, while Capello also revealed that he wants to see an element of fantasy in their play.

"After four games I am very happy because step by step we have moved on and have found the spirit of the group. We fight, we pressed a lot in the last two games and we won the ball back quickly.

"These are the characteristics of the England players, but also I was surprised by the fact a lot of players are very good technically, very, very good.

"There are also players with fantasy and that is very important at this moment. Now, modern football is a 9-1 formation and without fantasy or one player dribbling, with good passes it is impossible to score goals.

"It is a group. We have some players with good fantasy, very interesting players."

The England Manager also admitted that he had confidence in his players that they would qualify for the World Cup in 2010.

"I am very confident we will qualify for the World Cup," Capello explained. "I know the players better and they know me now, and I’m sure we have a very good squad with very good players. I have a lot of confidence for the future.

"I remember from my time in Spain, Italy, the fans of Inter, Roma but with Italy they are all on the side of the country and it's the same with England.

"In Europe or the World Cup, they are altogether. We try to find more confidence with the players so they can play like they do with their club but sometimes when the players play for their national team they are different.

"For this reason, you have to choose the player that can play very well for both his club and the national team with the same confidence, the same fantasy and same strong mentality."