Capello is Told that England WILL Make WC 2010 Semis. Or Else.

A quick check of my favorite fact source Wikipedia confirms the awful truth:

When it comes to the World Cup, England is a quarterfinal team.

Of the fifteen World Cups between 1950 and 2006, they’ve been champions once (1966) and made it to the semifinals once (in 1990, where they lost on penalties to West Germany.) But quarterfinals? Six times, including the two most recent in 2002 and 2006. They were also ousted in the quarterfinals in the last Euros in 2004.

If you’re an American, you may be thinking, “Wow. They made it to the quarterfinals six times.”

The English FA, though? Not so impressed. In fact, they’re so tired of seeing England dumped in the quarterfinals that they’ve given new coach Fabio Capello a mandate: Semi-finals in 2010 or you’re out.

According to FA Chair Lord Triesman:

“This document sets out our goals for the next four years and how we intend to achieve them. The FA is prepared to speak and act for the greatest sport in the world. There is much to do, and we have the determination to do it,” he said.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick is also adamant that England are capable of reaching the last four at the upcoming tournaments, despite their failure to even qualify for this summer’s European Championship.

“There are some significant challenges but we are confident of tackling them,” he admitted.

Capello himself doesn’t seem worried by this new requirement.

“No, it doesn’t put me under any pressure,” the Italian told Sky Sports News. “I came here as the England manager with the view to do good things and I believe we can achieve good things because we have a good team.

“You need to work all the time, knowing the road is long, and you have to improve from one time to the next with the view of achieving the important target which we have set. The past is in the past, I am confident that I have a good team and that I can work with it to achieve the targets that we want to achieve.”

So perhaps he really has faith in his new team and their ability to achieve this goal.

Or perhaps he just realizes that national team coaching years are like dog years, and that by WC 2010 he will feel like he’s aged enough for it to be 2022, and he’ll be ready to move on.

Me? I’m personally certain that a semifinal mandate will be all it will take to get England back on track.

Good luck in those semis, Fabio.

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Category: Europe, World Football