Fabio Capello has described how England looked "a spent force" when he took over as manager but now expects to take the same group of players to the World Cup final.
Capello believes the most important task he has had since taking charge of the national side in the wake of their non-qualification for Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren was renewing the players' self-belief.
"When I arrived and saw the players, they looked a spent force. They were scared and without any sense of belonging," the Italian is quoted as saying. "It was really surprising. But I rebuilt England psychologically."
He added: "I did a lot of talking and laid down the rules. I restored pride to the shirt.
"I tightened the bolts and imposed seriousness, and we now have a concrete group."
So confident is Capello in that group that he is happy to set his sights all the way in South Africa.
"For me, not arriving in the World Cup final would be a failure," he added.
Given that many fans share such lofty ambition, Capello believes there is far more pressure attached to his current role than there has been at any of his former clubs - including European heavyweights like Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus.
``Obviously it's a very different job being a national manager rather than a club manager,'' he told the League Managers' Association's The Manager magazine. ``The pressure is bigger as England manager. The country expects a lot and the fans believe a lot in the team.
``As a club manager you can work with your players every day, you can train to improve and study what happened and why in between each game. As England manager I can do a lot of in-depth preparation and then there's an injury and everything I have prepared is for nothing.''
Source: PA
