England aim to slay past ghosts

Fabio Capello claims England’s win over Slovenia has liberated his squad from the demons of self-doubt that haunted their faltering first steps at this World Cup. If he is right, the evidence of a successful exorcism will be presented today in the last-16 clash with Germany.

On paper, it is a match in which an England side stuffed with experienced Champions League campaigners should comfortably prevail over opponents with an average age below 25. However, World Cup history suggests it will not be that simple.

Capello can look back on the 2-1 win an injury-depleted England side recorded in Berlin in November 2008 as proof that his side is more than a match for opponents missing their injured skipper Michael Ballack. But no England fan will need reminding that the last two meetings of the countries at international tournaments - in the semi-finals of Italia 90 and Euro 96 - that ended in painful, penalty shoot-out defeats.

Form at this World Cup also points to another finely-balanced encounter with England having come good only in their final group game while the Germans started at a sprint against Australia only to find the going tougher later.

“Against Slovenia we did really well on every area of the pitch,” said Capello. “We won back the ball and played quickly. The passing was really dangerous and we switched the ball quickly.”

Good news for England will be Wayne Rooney’s recovery from injury while Ledley King was also back in training, leaving Capello with a full 23-man squad to pick his eleven from.

On the other hand, German players have acknowledged that the experience of England’s big guns should count in their favour and head coach Joachim Loew has voiced his admiration for an English spine made up of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

But he sees no reason why his side, in which the widely-admired Mesut Ozil has emerged as the dominant creative force, should feel intimidated although striker Cacau has been ruled out after pulling a stomach muscle in training.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.