Capello Learn English

Fabio Capello got his England career off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Wembley.

The Italian manager dropped a number of familiar names for yesterday’s friendly and the youngsters didn’t disappoint as Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips got the goals to ensure that Capello became the seventh England coach in succession to start their career as national team boss with a win.

Naturally, here at Capello Learn English, we were keeping tabs on the England manager’s actions during the 90 minutes at Wembley and here’s what we saw.

Capello Watch: England vs Switzerland

0 min: Fabio Capello makes his way to the dug-out, along with U21’s manager Stuart Pearce and the rest of his coaching staff.

5 min: Capello is already out of his seat and barking orders on the touchline. He is still stood on the touchline as Wayne Rooney heads wide from David Bentley’s free-kick.

14 min: Capello sits down.

16min: Fabio Capello has been in his seat for less than two minutes before he is back on the touchline

19 min: Capello’s presence possibly has an effect on Wes Brown as he gives the ball away in the danger zone only to see Hakan Yakin fire wide.

20 min: Swiss manager Köbi Kuh joins Capello on the sidelines before sitting down two minutes later

25 min: Capello finally sits down.

26 min: Philippe Senderos flicks on to Eggimann who squanders the best chance of the game so far from six yards out.

29 min: With the visitors threatening to take charge, Capello is up from the bench once more.

31 min: Jermaine Jenas is put through by Rooney but his poor pass brings England’s best chance to an end.

32 min: David Bentley’s over-hit free-kick brings groans from the crowd, some of whom start chanting “one David Beckham”.

37 min: Capello is still on his feet as stand-in captain Steven Gerrard sees his shot cause little problem to goalkeeper Benaglio.

40 min: GOAL! - ENGLAND 1-0 SWITZERLAND. Jermaine Jensa gets his first international goal and the first England goal under Capello. Joe Cole does all thehard work on the left before feeding Jenas for a simple finish. Capello applauds and gives the ‘OK’ signal to his charges.

42: min After thirteen minutes, Fabio sits down.

Half-time: The new manager wastes no time in getting to the dressing rooms to give his first half-time team-talk in English. England haven’t performed brilliantly in an unfamiliar system - will the new man make any changes?

48 min: A superb ball from Bentley finds Rooney who gets the ball stuck under his feet just yards from goal. The ball trickles wide but there is definitely intent from England that they aren’t prepared to sit back and defend the lead.

51 min: Peter Crouch is seen warming up - is he Capello’s first substitution?

54: min: England start to turn the screw. Jenas’ long-range shot draws a good save from Benaglio whilst Rooney hits the roof of the net twice in two minutes.

56 min: Fabhio Capello makes his first substitution and it’s a double change - Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips are on in place of Jenas and Joe Cole.

57 min: GOAL! - ENGLAND 1-1 SWITZERLAND. Disaster for Capello as 19-year-old Eren Derdiyok scores on his international debut. Can England recover?

60 min: GOAL! - ENGLAND 2-1 SWITZERLAND. England aren’t level for long! Steven Gerrard breaks down the left and his pass to Shaun Wright-Phillips leaves the Chelsea midfielder with the easiest of finishes. England are back in the lead.

62 min: Stuart Pearce is the one giving the orders to Wright-Phillips as the Swiss make their sixth change of the night.

65 min: Fabio Capello is back on the sideline with that trademark stern look.

68 min: The crowd that were earlier losing patience with the side are now cheering every pass and England start playing some fantastic passing football. Despite the scoreline, the Swiss fans join in too!
72 min: Capello is still on the sideline with the BBC Television cameras picking up his newly learnt English skills: “Press! Press! Press!”

73 min: The other Cole, Ashley, is swapped with Wayne Bridge.

76 min: Owen Hargreaves is now introduced in place of Gareth Barry.

80 min: The tireless Rooney sees his trickery send him flying into the Switzerland centre-half.

82 min: England physio Gary Lewin has a word in the ear of Capello - is Rooney hurting from thathead-first clash with the Swiss defence?

86 min: Wayne Rooney is substituted to a standing ovation from the Wembley crowd. There doesn’t appear to be any problem but nevertheless, Ashley Young will take his place for the closing stages.

90 min: After the Swiss scramble for an equaliser in the closing stages, England clear and the whistle is blown. Capello shakes hands with his Swiss counterparts and heads down the Wembley tunnel. No doubt he’ll be pleased with the 2-1 victory and the performance of some of the younger players, but lessons will have been learnt from this first outing. Steven Gerrard is announced as the FA man of the match, although Wayne Rooney can feel a little hard-done by.