Capello future on the line in Slovenia grudge match

Fabio Capello will go into Wednesday’s showdown with Slovenia with his future as England coach on the line after refusing to rule out quitting if his squad go out of the World Cup at the group stage.

A disjointed display in Friday’s goalless draw with Algeria has made that a distinct possibility and the Italian has admitted he is at a loss to understand why the biggest names in the Three Lions’ squad morph into toothless tabby cats when they pull on the national shirt.

Failure to advance from a group that was greeted with the banner headline ‘EASY’ in The Sun, when the draw was made in December would, for Capello, represent a stain on a coaching career that has been synonomous with success.

The Italian insists he is not contemplating anything other than a win in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

But he did not rule out falling on his sword when pressed on the matter in the recriminatory aftermath of Friday’s debacle in Cape Town.

“It is too early to speak about this,” he said. “We have to wait.”

That may have sounded like a standard piece of flat-batting. But his equivocation was significant given that Capello, who endured a miserable 64th birthday on Friday, signed a revised two-year contract only three weeks ago.

That deal, done against a background of interest from Inter Milan, was supposed to ensure he remained in charge until Euro 2012 as well as being a reward for the way England qualified with nine wins in ten matches.

Capello admitted the England that has drawn both its matches here has been unrecognisable in comparison to the side that scored 34 goals on the road to South Africa.

Immediately prior to the World Cup, the Italian said he believed his most significant achievement with the squad had been to give them back their self-belief in the aftermath of their failure to reach Euro 2008 under his predecessor Steve McClaren.

But the confidence generated by home-and-away demolitions of Croatia has evaporated under the unforgiving lights of a World Cup as the likes of Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard have fluffed their lines on world football’s biggest stage.

“Rooney didn’t play like Rooney, but he is not the problem,” Capello said. “It is the pressure of the World Cup. These players are training very well at a fast speed. But in these two games they were not the same.”

Fortunately for England, other results in group C have conspired to ensure they retain control of their own destiny and everything could yet come good for Capello and co. if the pressure produces a performance worthy of their reputations in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

That will be a far from straightforward task against a Slovenia side that, having beaten Algeria 1-1 and drawn 2-2 with the United States, only needs a draw to book their place in the last 16.

Complicating matters further for England is the hangover from a friendly they played against Slovenia in September 2009.

England won the match 2-1 thanks to a Frank Lampard penalty and the Slovenians have harboured a grudge ever since over Wayne Rooney’s conduct.

At the time of the draw, defender Bostjan Cesar, who was out of action for two months with an injury he suffered in the challenge on Rooney that led to England’s penalty, accused the striker of setting out to hurt him and promised to take his revenge in Port Elizabeth.

“I’ll have additional motivation for that match,” Cesar said. “Everybody knows that Rooney deliberately tried to injure me. He should be ashamed of himself. We will try to wind him up and make it an unpleasant experience for him and his teammates.”

Capello meanwhile must decide whether to make significant changes to his line-up with Joe Cole — arguably England’s best player in Germany four years ago — one of the cards he has yet to play.

England’s depleted back four will also have to be reshuffled once more with Jamie Carragher suspended for the Slovenia match.

Despite his downbeat tone, the Italian believes England could yet light up the tournament if they can click back to their best on Wednesday.

“I hope that after playing a big performance the minds of the players will be free and we can play like the England that I know,” he said.