England's Italian Manager Fabio Capello (R) gestures to England's Wayne Rooney during the match against Wales during a Euro 2012, Group G qualifying football match at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales on March 26, 2011. England won 2-0. Getty Images/IAN KINGTONIAN KINGTON/Getty Images
Fabio Capello can never win. Even in the wake of a key victory to push his squad closer to qualification for the 2012 European Championship finals, and one that the English press have widely lauded for its tactical expansion, the Italian is still having to fend off attacks for the things he didn't do.
It's a shoulda-coulda-woulda kind of world, especially in sports, and yes, in hindsight, Capello would have been wiser to warn his talisman Wayne Rooney about his conduct before Saturday's 2-0 win over Wales, with another booking proving sufficient to knock him out of England's next qualifying game against Switzerland in June.
Inevitably, that moment came in the 37th minute, with the Three Lions already well on their way to the full three points, and as Richard Williams of the Guardian points out Monday, it is that lack of attention to detail that is undermining the Italian's reign.
At six-million-pounds a year, and with a full complement of backroom staff to aid him, Capello should have been on top of the situation, reminding Rooney of his previous booking and imploring him to take extra-special caution in the game. While Capello confirmed that he usually takes such an approach with players one booking away from suspension, he admitted he didn't on this occasion, and combined with his handling of the captaincy, taking the armband away from Rio Ferdinand to give it back to John Terry, without so much as a phone call to the incumbent, certainly suggests the image of a man unconcerned with the minutiae day-to-day squad management.
But then Capello is a winner. He has done it throughout his career, as both a player and a manager, with different teams in different leagues on multiple occasions. He is an old-school manager, and the molly-coddling approach taken by the likes of Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger is not going to wash with him. He may only have 15 months or so to run on what is likely his last managerial post before he disappears to his spiritual retreat in the Swiss alps to enjoy the rest of his days in peace, but Capello is not about to settle for second best in his run-in to retirement.
England the latest to imitate Barca ways
Jack Wilshere has revealed that England used video footage of the all-conquering Barcelona side to help inspire the victory over Wales.
Wilshere, part of the Arsenal team beaten by the Catalan club over two legs last month, said that England manager Fabio Capello wanted his team to press high up the pitch like Barcelona does.
"We watched some videos of Barcelona and the way they pressed," the 19-year-old revealed. "We tried to do it like them against Wales. We pressed high and the idea was to get some early goals and we got them. We made it comfortable for ourselves.
"We watched the videos a couple of days ago. We want to press like them. They are the best at it in the world and we have to learn from teams like that. At my age I am always learning and I can learn from players like that in their side.''
Whether or not Wilshere gets to continue that education at this summer's European under-21 championships is up for debate though with Wilshere, along with fellow English youngster Andy Carroll, embroiled in a club-versus-country debate, with Arsenal and Liverpool respectively wanting their young stars to take the summer off to recuperate.
Villa heaps more pressure on Torres
Talking of Barcelona, striker David Villa continued his torrid tear in front of goal for the Spanish national team with two goals in a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic.
The brace propelled Villa past Raul's Spanish national team record of 44 goals, but in doing so he is pushing former strike partner Fernando Torres further and further into the shade. While Villa is obviously Spain's first-choice to lead the attack, it could even be argued that Fernando Llorente has superseded Torres as coach Vicente Del Bosque's second option, with teammates forced to come to the Chelsea man's defence after he failed to find the net in a half-time substitute role, despite having some of the world's most creative midfielders to assist him.
"Fernando is doing really well," said Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta. "It's clear that strikers live to score, but in Granada he gave us plenty of things which people don't see such as hard work, helping out in defence and allowing others the space to play.
"He does work which is not noticed, but it is very fundamental for the team. As for the goals, I think it's only a matter of time. He has always scored and he will continue doing so and therefore there are no problems."
With no goals since his 50-million-pound arrival at Stamford Bridge from Liverpool during the January transfer window, it's high time the real Fernando Torres stood up to be counted.
And finally …
Congratulations to Brazilian Rogerio Ceni, who became the first goalkeeper to reach the 100-goal milestone at the weekend, bending home a free kick to give Sao Paolo a 2-1 win over arch-rival Corinthians.
"It was beautiful," said Ceni, who was the third goalkeeper in Brazil's squad when they won the 2002 World Cup. "As a goalkeeper you don't enter the match thinking about scoring a goal, but it happened just as I wanted: with a free kick, deciding an important match. For me, it doesn't matter that it was against Corinthians, but for the fans it must have been important."
Ceni struck a right-footed shot into the top right corner nine minutes into the second half to put São Paulo 2-0 up. It was his 56th free-kick goal, while the others came from penalties.
FIFA says Ceni has 98 goals, but the goalkeeper counts two he scored in unofficial friendlies: one against a combined Santos and Flamengo side in 1998 and the other against the Russian club Uralan Elista in an exhibition tournament in 2000. But even by FIFA's count, he is the goalkeeper with the most goals ever scored.
- With files from The Associated Press and Reuters