Fabio Capello has urged Wayne Rooney to stay strong and not allow his private life to cloud his mind in England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Rooney has declared himself ready to play for in Basle. A quick chat was all it took for Capello to be convinced his star striker's mind was right following damaging weekend allegations about his private life.
But the Italian is aware how quickly things can change and said: "At different moments you have to separate the private life and the job. You have to be strong to divide the two. You have to live the job really well and find solutions to the problems. The first part is my job. The other is his problem."
That is not to say Capello is washing his hands of Rooney's personal issues. Just that he cannot do much to help.
The Italian must feel it is starting to become something of a theme given he stripped John Terry of the captaincy following allegations of an affair with the long-time girlfriend of team-mate Wayne Bridge.
Ashley Cole and Peter Crouch have also hit the headlines for personal reasons in the past few months, even though Capello feels many of his players' counterparts in other bits of Europe can get themselves into similar strife.
"It is not only England. The same thing happens in other countries; France, Germany, Italy," he said. "But the English newspapers. In the other countries it is not the same."
As he edges towards his third anniversary in the job, Capello should be getting some idea of the way British media operates.
He should also be aware it has been noticed that Rooney does not appear to have suffered any punishment just seven months after Terry lost the captain's armband. Capello vehemently refutes the allegation of double standards.
"John Terry played all the games after what happened," he countered. "It was only the armband. I felt it was important to do that. Rooney is not the captain."
Source: PA
