Capello excuses generous England

Fabio Capello is happy to excuse his players handing out a few gifts in Amsterdam - he does not expect to witness the same generosity in South Africa next year.

Getting a decent performance out of his England team in the Netherlands on Wednesday was always going to be a stiff task, so Capello was probably reasonably satisfied as he flew back home. Obvious mistakes from Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry apart, Capello could pick out half a dozen reasons for optimism which, given the unpromising circumstances of the situation, was more than enough to be thankful for.

"We have not practiced," complained Capello. "Never. On Monday we had ten players at training. On Tuesday we had all the players but we could not practice anything.

"Three times in the game we fell asleep; both goals and once where we gave the ball to Robben. We don't want to it again but this is still pre-season. The World Cup is not in pre-season."...[source]