Confident and prepared
Wednesday, 10 September, 2008
Fabio Capello says his team should be confident going into their game with Croatia on Wednesday.
Croatia v England
2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier
Group Six
8pm, Wednesday 10 September 2008
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb
Fabio Capello, who will name his team around 7pm, believes his England side will take to the pitch in Zagreb tonight confident and well prepared - and ready to surprise hosts Croatia.
Capello has enjoyed almost 10 consecutive days working with his Three Lions stars ahead of this evening's World Cup qualifier and expects to reap the rewards in the Maksimir Stadium.
“I think we work very well in these nine days and I saw the players with a lot of confidence,” he said. “We are better day by day and I’m sure we will be ok.
“You have to take attention of the counter-attack of Croatia. You have to play with confidence, without fear, and play very quickly.
“We have a lot of players with big experience. We have to play like a group, like a team, this is very important. Every time we have to help each other.”
Capello has opted not to spend hours studying videos of England’s last visit to Croatia when they were beaten 2-0 and instead he has thought only about how to get the right result this time around.
“I saw the highlights but I didn’t see the video," he revealed. "I think for me I always prefer to watch the opponent. I saw Croatia in Euro 2008, that’s most important.
“If you see the video you can see only one part of the pitch so I prefer to watch a game live. It’s impossible to understand why it happened on a video because you see too little.
“Croatia are a strong team, they play with fantastic confidence. They are in a good position always on the pitch. If you have a good balance you are very dangerous. But we are ready.
“I don’t speak about the games we lose, I speak about the future. The future is the next game, always.”
Capello has studied Croatia’s performances closely, of course, but he feels the most important thing in Zagreb tonight is for England to play it their way.
He added: “I think when we play we have to impose our style. We have to respect opponents but we have to impose our style. We must play without fear.”
Croatia
Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), Vedran Runje (RC Lens), Vedran Ćorluka (Manchester City), Dario Šimić (AS Monaco), Robert Kovač (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Šimunić (Hertha Berlin), Dario Knežević (Juventus), Hrvoje Vejić (Tom Tomsk), Ivica Križanac (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Niko Kovač (Red Bull Salzburg), Danijel Pranjić (SC Heerenveen), Nikola Pokrivač (AS Monaco), Luka Modrić (Tottenham Hotspur), Jerko Leko (AS Monaco), Ognjen Vukojević (Dinamo Kiev), Darijo Srna (Shaktar Donetsk), Ivan Rakitić (Schalke), Mladen Petrić (HSV), Ivica Olić (HSV), Ivan Klasnić (Nantes), Nikola Kalinić (Hajduk Split), Mario Mandžukić (Dinamo Zagreb), Danijel Subašić (Hajduk Split)
England
Robert Green (West Ham United), David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry(Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Jimmy Bullard (Fulham), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Tottenham Hotspur), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth)
Manager
Fabio Capello
Match Officials
Referee Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
Assistant Referees Martin Balko and Roman Csabay (Slovakia)
Team colours
Croatia
Blue shirts, blue shorts, blue socks
England
White shirts, white shorts, white socks
GK: Sky blue shirt, navy blue shorts, sky blue socks