Fabio Capello fancies the England job and he has already won the support of former England manager Terry Venables:

“People like Capello and Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy, are tough guys who wouldn’t find it so difficult working here.”

There are signs of a media momentum building behind Capello in a similar fashion to how, a few years ago, the London press convinced themselves that Sven Goran Eriksson was the man to transform England into a sophisticated continental team.

There are, as always with these debates, plenty of fascinating arguments for and against appointing Capello (or Lippi) as manager of the English national side. Let us put Lippi aside for the moment — he has expressed no interest in the job and 18 months ago, when I attended his final press conference as Italy coach, the day after he had won the World Cup, I asked him whether he would ever consider working in England and he replied in the negative. The reason he gave was significant however — he doesn’t speak English and he wouldn’t want to work in a country where he can’t communicate with people. Lippi speaks Italian and French.

Unless he has been hiding his language skills — something a lot of Italians do — or he has been studying hard in the past year or so (something that wouldn’t be so surprising) Fabio Capello doesn’t speak much English, if any at all. He speaks Italian and Spanish.

Oliver Kay in The Times notes this may be a problem:

Capello is 61 and would be the oldest man to be appointed to the job, but his age is far less of an issue than his relatively poor grasp of English. He will probably need an English-speaking assistant if he gets the job.

In most walks of life the fact that you don’t speak the language of your employers or your staff would ruled you out of consideration for a position before you even brought your translator along with you to the job interview. For a job as a football coach — where communicating with your players is a huge part of the role — it seems incredible that a non-English speaker would even be considered for the England job.

Sure, you can always have an English speaking assistant or a translator along side you on the bench but, if you have ever seen coaches work like this, you will understand that it can be a major drawback. You can get the words translated but the emphasis, the passion, the urgency and sometimes the detail, get lost. Try telling a joke through a translator and see if you get a real laugh. Try asking a translator to yell at John Terry in the last five minutes of a crucial game at a packed Wembley.

There are some coaches that have succeeded without speaking the main language of their players and German Otto Rehhagel with Greece at Euro 2004 is probably the best example. There are also, as the Guardian’s Sid Lowe notes here, plenty of good arguments for giving Don Fabio a chance — he has a tremendous record in Italy and Spain having won titles with every club he has been in charge of. On top of that, English football no longer has a problem with having a foreigner in charge of the national side.

But is language going to be the barrier to Capello’s ambition?

PHOTO: Fabio Capello watches the Italian national team train at the Puskas stadium in Budapest August 21, 2007. REUTERS/Karoly Arvai

South Africa moves firmly into world football’s spotlight over the next days as the first formal event ahead of the 2010 World Cup takes place in the coastal resort city of Durban.

The preliminary draw for the finals is held in the city on Sunday, the first opportunity for the country to prove its potential as upcoming hosts (we will have live coverage of the draw over at the main soccer site, so check back for the draw as it happens).

The city was chosen because of the gargantuan size of its International Convention Centre, which has previously played hosts to a bevy of international summits, including a Commonwealth Heads of Government event.

Durban is bedecked in the official orange World Cup livery that will surely dominate the South Africa landscape over the next 30 months and there are some 3,000 visitors expected in the city over the next 48 hours.

It presents a decent-sized test for organisers and volunteers, new to the scale of a sports event of the magnitude of the World Cup.

It is also an opportunity to show what the South African Local Organising Committee promise will be a “unique African experience” for visitors.

What exactly they mean is unclear but the draw is far from an absorbing event. An endless succession of country names being drawn from glass bowls on a giant stage is being dressed up with dance and music in what is essentially a made-for-television spectacular.

South Africa’s premier league has shifted its season classic, the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates to Durban on Saturday.

Already the 50,000 tickets for the event are sold out. The atmosphere at the derby is often a sensory-tingling experience but both clubs, who traditionally dominate the local league, have been performing poorly so far this season.

Fans are fickle in Durban, as witnessed by a poor crowd of some 5,000 who bothered to pitch for an international between South Africa and Canada on Tuesday. After a run of poor results, Durbanites were not prepared to pay to watch their national team.

South Africa host two more FIFA events before the 2010 World Cup. Eight teams participate in the 2009 Confederations Cup and there will also be the finals draw in December 2009, the venue for which is still to be confirmed.

PHOTO: FIFA President Sepp Blatter smiles during a news conference in Durban November 23, 2007, ahead of Sunday’s preliminary draw for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Here we go again. Eighteen months on from Steve McClaren’s controversial appointment the English FA are in the market for a new coach.

We’d like your views on who they should pick. Martin O’Neill is being talked up in the English media, but according to a Reuters poll the fans’ favourite would be Jose Mourinho. Then again, as my colleague Mark Meadows notes below, Fabio Capello is so far the only man to have expressed an interest.

A brief look at the expected candidates:

Martin O’Neill: The charismatic Northern Irishman won the League Cup twice with Leicester City in 1997 and 2000 before transferring to Celtic, where he won seven trophies in five years. He was interviewed by the FA last time around but has attempted to distance himself from the position this time around saying he has unfinished work with Aston Villa.

Jose Mourinho: The fans’ choice, if you believe the Reuters poll. Heavily linked with Valencia before Ronald Koeman took charge, the Portuguese coach has kept a surprisingly low profile since his Chelsea departure in September.

Alan Shearer: No experience? No problem. Former Newcastle United and England striker Shearer has been offering his words of wisdom from the television studios, but following the success of other novice coaches Klinsmann and Van Basten the FA may decide no experience is a template for success. Irish fans who witnessed Steve Staunton mastermind a last minute 2-1 victory over San Marino and a 5-2 defeat to Cyprus might disagree, of course.

Luiz Felipe Scolari: Big Phil was all set to take charge 18 months ago but a change of heart meant the Brazilian stayed on with Portugal and oversaw a third consecutive victory over England at a major tournament. Could the FA persuade Scolari that media intrusion, which the Brazilian cited as a reason for not accepting the role previously, is not that bad?

Mark Meadows adds:

“It would be a beautiful challenge. I am the right age,” the 61-year-old Fabio Capello said, hours before Steve McClaren was sacked for failing to guide England to Euro 2008. No one else in club football has credentials like Capello, who has won a title at all four teams he has worked for. He is also available after being dismissed by Real at the end of last season for being too defensive, despite winning the championship. Right now most England fans wouldn’t care about performances as long as they delivered results.
 
His compatriot and fellow deft tactician Marcello Lippi is also out of work and has the best international pedigree around after leading a modest Italy side to World Cup glory last year.

If the FA want to be truly daring, perhaps they should go for Juergen Klinsmann. Erik Kirschbaum argues the case for Klinsi in a separate blog below, but if you want to make comments on the German please come back here to do it.

PHOTO: A bookmaker offers odds on the next England football manager outside the FA headquarters in London. REUTERS/Stephen Hird

Nearly four years ago, a traditional soccer power that had fallen on hard times by squandering their enormous resources and great potential turned — almost in desperation — to an untested young coach with a lot of demands and no track record. And that was only after their three first choices had turned down the job.

With hindsight, the German FA (DFB) should be given credit for their courage to turn over the “Nationalelf” to Juergen Klinsmann – even if they had just about run out of candidates who still had a pulse. 

At the time, it looked like madness to some. But two years later, after Klinsmann had led Germany to third place in the World Cup, there were 82 million Germans begging him to stay longer.

Klinsmann, of course, refused to stay and returned home to California at the end of his two-year contract. He didn’t need the money and wanted a break after the two-year mission: He came, he saw, he fixed it and went home.

It seems to me England are having similar problems and could do with a Klinsmann to help them out. They produce so many talented players, have the world’s best league, an unrivalled tradition and a huge appetite for winning, yet they so often underperform.

Klinsmann triumphed in part because he wasn’t afraid to bring in young and untried players. He was also prepared to sack people who got in his way — like goalkeeping coach Sepp Maier and ageing defender Christian Woerns.

Klinsmann also stood up to the powerful media in Germany, refused to play according to their rules, and after some serious sniping ultimately had even the most vicious pressbox critics eating out of his hand.

If nothing else, having a German coach might at least help England overcome their trauma with penalties.

Please leave comments back at this main post

PHOTO: Klinsmann celebrates with the fans at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, July 9, 2006. REUTERS/Marcus Brandt/Pool

I’ll be quick. England’s failure to qualify for the Euro finals is of course a surprise but does not come as exactly a shock.

It seems to me that the team lost a big part of its spine when Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher retired from international football.

Let’s face it, Joleon Lescott cannot even be compared to Carra. And who’s been providing the decisive link between the midfield and the front line since Scholes called it quits?

Alright, neither John Terry nor Ashley Cole were there. Rio Ferdinand was also out of action (which may have been good news for England). But here comes the bit where McClaren cannot escape responsibility: why on earth would you field an inexperienced goalie behind a makeshift defence?

Julien Pretot is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Paris 

The problem with teenage phenomena is they don’t often live up to expectations but Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa appear to be doing just that.

All born in 1987, the year when Michel Platini retired, the trio first attracted attention by helping France win the European Under-17 title three years ago. Since then they’ve done enough to suggest they are indeed the future of French football.

The three played their first international this year, all scoring on debut, like a certain Zinedine Zidane once did.

Being of North African descent and possessing exceptional skills mean the three have inevitably been compared with the great man, especially Nasri, the only playmaker in  the lot who, like the balding maestro, grew up in a Marseille suburb.

Unlike Zidane, who never did, Nasri actually plays for Marseille, where his game intelligence and maturity beyond his years have already made him the boss.

The other two were formed at and play for six-times French champions Olympique Lyon.

A lethal mix of power, speed and skill, forward Benzema grew up admiring Ronaldo (the real one, not Cristiano) and his 11 goals from 14 league games this season indicate he could become just as devastating. Unfortunately for David Trezeguet (sorry, Julien), France coach Raymond Domenech’s headaches when it came to decide who to field up front alongside Thierry Henry are now over.

Benzema is the obvious answer and if Domenech needs a complement for his two strikers, a young magician capable of acting both as an attacking midfielder and a winger, he can confidently pick Ben Arfa.

Arguably the most gifted of the three youngsters, Ben Arfa was once criticised for not trying hard enough and some were concerned he might waste his talent but he has definitely made his breakthrough and the harmonious pair he forms with Benzema at Lyon has become Ligue 1 defenders’ worst nightmare.

The three still need to learn and might be too tender to steal the limelight at next year’s Euro 2008 finals but by 2010, they should all be gracing glamorous outfits such as Arsenal or Real Madrid and the World Cup in South Africa could provide them with the perfect stage on which to show off what they’re made of.

PHOTO: Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema during their Euro 2008 Group B qualifying match against Lithuania in Nantes, October 17, 2007. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

When England lost 1-0 to Germany in the final match at old Wembley in 2000, Kevin Keegan had to walk a lonely 50 yards, with the furious abuse of fans ringing in his ears, before reaching the sanctuary of the dressing room.

He resigned as England manager minutes later.

Seven years on, after England’s 3-2 defeat by Croatia cost them a place at Euro 2008, we in the press box at the new Wembley saw Steve McClaren disappear from pitchside in seconds before emerging later to tell the media he had no intention of resigning.

McClaren was protected from the elements by his oversized umbrella* and protected from hearing the fans’ opinions by the design of the new stadium but the outcome was the same, with the FA merely waiting until morning to get him out.

Such a decision was probably inevitable after England’s failure to secure first or second place in a group featuring not especially tough opponents, and losing three qualifying matches for the first time in history.

Not everyone would agree that McClaren was the main culprit, though. Roy Keane, never a man to hold back his opinions, suggested some England players no longer cared about the international game. Keane said:

“I don’t think international football is that important to a lot of these players these days and club football has taken over, especially for a lot of top players involved in the Champions League. From the outside looking in, I tend to think there are too many egos in there, too many big heads.”

Is Keane right? Has the comfort zone just got a bit too comfortable? It seems doubtful.

Steven Gerrard was not at his best against Croatia but was it really because he lives a life of luxury with a glamorous wife? Wayne Bridge did not decide to boom his crosses six feet above the head of Shaun Wright-Phillips, the smallest man on the pitch, because he owns some nice cars. David Beckham did not give the ball away for the winning goal because he has become “Brand Beckham” with all the baggage that accompanies the position.

Does anyone imagine blundering goalkeeper Scott Carson went to bed thinking, “Oh well, at least I’ve pocketed a few thousand for turning up”?

So just what is wrong with the England team and why do these “world class” players so regularly fail to produce the goods when they swap a sponsored shirt for one bearing the three lions? If you have an idea, please let me know in the comments section. We can’t just keep blaming the manager, can we?

Mitch Phillips, head of Reuters UK sports reporting, was at Wembley on Wednesday

* Follow the link for a caption competition at Spurs Pies

PHOTO: Dario Simic (BOTTOM), Robert Kovac (R) and Stipe Pletikosa (L) watch as a shot from Bent just clears the crossbar during their Euro 2008 Group E qualifying soccer match at Wembley in London, November 21, 2007. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

Fans of sporting clichés may well have to find a new term for the “group of death“ by the time the draw for Euro 2008 has been made, a week on Sunday in Lucerne. Group of mayhem, anyone?

If Germany and the Netherlands seemed far from eager to clinch a place as top seeds when they played their final matches on Wednesday it’s easy to understand why.

Tournament co-hosts Switzerland and Austria and surprise defending champions Greece already had places as number one seeds, meaning the fourth team at the top table (the Dutch as it turns out) could face opponents like Italy (from pot 2), Germany (in pot 3) and/or France (in pot four) in the group phase of the competition.

Overall, the situation looks like this:

Pot 1: Switzerland (hosts), Austria (hosts), Greece (holders), Netherlands

Pot 2: Croatia, Italy, Czech Republic, Sweden

Pot 3: Romania, Germany, Portugal, Spain

Pot 4: Poland, France, Turkey, Russia

If you’re wondering why France, the beaten World Cup finalists, are down in the fourth pot, it’s due to UEFA’s decision to base the seedings solely on qualifying campaigns for the last World Cup and Euro 2008. FIFA’s rankings, by contrast, work on a rolling four-year basis and include both friendly and competitive matches (with greater weighting given to the latter).

A UEFA official I spoke to earlier this week suggested there was something egalitarian or even romantic about the prospect of the bigger teams meeting one another in the group phase. If the big teams get drawn together, it gives the smaller teams a better chance and ‘evens up the playing field’.

Maybe so, but do UEFA really want to have not just the chance but the certain guarantee that two top teams will crash out before the quarter-finals simply because they have been drawn against two other big sides?

If they are truly not bothered about the effect this would have (both in sporting and commercial terms) then why don’t UEFA simply abandon the idea of having seeded teams and hold a completely random draw? Come to think of it, when you look at the pots for Euro 2008 it almost seems like they have.

Mark Ledsom reports on sport for Reuters from Switzerland and Austria

FILE PHOTO: The European Championship trophy on display at the draw for Euro 2000.

It’s not the first time, of course, that a small eastern European country has humiliated England at Wembley, giving the nation that invented the game a lesson in how to play it.

Hungary’s famous 6-3 victory over England under Wembley’s Twin Towers in 1953 is the stuff of legend.

Croatia’s win under the floodlit Wembley Arch on Wednesday night ought to serve as just as big a wake-up call to the English game as that famous victory of the Mighty Magyars did, 54 years ago this week.

For what cannot be ignored in the wreckage of England’s humiliating 3-2 defeat was that Croatia outclassed England tactically and technically – just as Ferenc Puskas and his team did when they became the first ever foreign side to beat England at home.

The wet, slippery conditions were the same for both teams — but Croatia mastered them and England could not. Their players controlled the ball better, and Croatia coach Slaven Bilic outwitted England coach Steve McClaren, pulling the largely inexperienced England defence all over the pitch. Croatia had so much space and time. Their players looked sharper and fitter. Their passing was more accurate.

McClaren’s decision to drop Paul Robinson and David Beckham back-fired spectacularly. Scott Carson, making his first competitive appearance for England, was beaten twice in the opening 14 minutes and while not at fault for the second goal, he was for the first.

The sense of incredulity at Wembley was tangible. People were looking at each other saying, “I don’t believe what is happening here.”

But Carson cannot shoulder all the blame. At the heart of the matter is the fact that there are now far too many ordinary foreign players earning their fortunes in the Premier League.

No-one begrudges the fact that some of the world’s top players are here. But so, it seems, is everyone else who can kick a ball in a straight line. As a result, the pool of English players at the top level is diminishing.

When England won the World Cup in 1966, more than half of the goalkeepers playing in the old First Division were English. Right now there are four.

English pundits never stop telling the public the Premier League is the best, most exciting in the world, but as Steven Gerrard said last week, what’s the point of having the best league in the world if the national team is not good enough to qualify for major competitions.

It took England time to learn the lessons and catch up with the developing world of football in the 1950s after losing to Hungary. Thirteen years in fact.

There are different lessons to be learnt now, and in my view the main one is this.

England’s Premier League clubs should stop importing “ordinary” foreign players. That does not mean English football needs “quotas” to limit foreign players; it can impose its own by actually playing English players.

Clubs should concentrate on developing their own local talent instead of casting the nets ever wider across the world.

But we all know there is as much chance of that happening as England winning Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

PHOTO: Steven Gerrard walks off the pitch following England’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley, November 21, 2007. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

Steve McClaren has been sacked as England coach after a 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley saw his team blow a final chance to reach Euro 2008.

McClaren had said immediately after the game he had no intention of resigning but the FA took the decision to terminate his contract after a board meeting in London’s Soho Square on Thursday morning.

“The Board have agreed that there will now be a full root and branch examination of the whole England senior team set-up, which will begin with immediate effect,” the FA said in a statement.

The axe fell on McClaren — and his assistant Terry Venables — after the coach’s bold decision to bring in an inexperienced goalkeeper backfired in spectacular style, as a mistake from Scott Carson played a big part in the defeat.

Were the FA right to sack their coach? Do you think some of the senior players should be held responsible? Or is it time English football recognised more fundamental problems in the game? Please give us your views in the comments below.

PHOTO: McClaren watches during England’s defeat by Croatia at Wembley, November 21, 2007. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty   

SLIDESHOW: Check out this page for more photos from England’s miserable night at Wembley.

UPDATE: This post was updated at 1000 GMT after FA confirmed McClaren had been sacked. Thanks for all the early responses, and please keep ‘em coming.