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Capello warns young England players

Comment: 0 September 2nd, 2011 by: admin

“HAVE pride in the Three Lions.’’

That was the stern message Fabio Capello relayed to his team, notably the younger ones, as England gird for their Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria on Friday.

Capello stressed that his players who just broke into his squad must be proud wearing the English shirt if they want to succeed as international footballers.

The Italian mentor also told his men to respect him as manager if they want to keep their spots in the squad. “They must also respect my choice. I need to decide the players who will be on the bench and in the stand.’’

During team practice at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, Capello also said: “If people don’t like to stay here, thank you very much. I don’t like to speak to people who don’t want to stay with the national team.’’

It is believed that the “people’’ Capello is insinuating refers to Ben Foster, the 28-year-old West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper who declared he was not available for international football. With Foster out, England won’t have a solid backup to goalkeeper Joe Hart.

“I’ve got a lot of young players and a good mix. I need to find some solutions. I hope the young players will improve and be a really important team,’’ added Capello.

Among England’s promising new players, centre-back Chris Smalling is expected to make his debut in the Group G qualifier. England lead the group on goal difference over Montenegro with 11 points from 5 games. Bulgaria, who will be without their top player Dimitar Berbatov, are running fourth with 5 points.

Aside from the 21-year-old Smalling, other promising young members of the Three Lions are his Manchester United teammates, 22-year-old Tom Cleverley (midfielder) and 19-year-old Phil Jones (defender).

Bulgaria, coached by former Germany playmaker Lothar Matthaeus, have yet to find the back of the net in the qualifying campaign.

Despite their status as favourites, Capello said he still expects a difficult match against the Bulgarians, noting they are a very well-organised team with good players.

Bulgaria have yet to beat England in nine meetings going into the match. The Three Lions’ last win over them was a 4-0 thrashing at Wembley last September.

England captain John Terry said they must not be complacent because they will be facing a “real battle’’ against the hosts.

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