Coach Fabio Capello is looking to end the 44 years of pain for England and lead his adopted country to their second World Cup success.
Capello likened himself to a “Ghostbuster”, claiming it will be the second time he has had to tackle a perceived hoodoo after knocking Croatia out in qualifying for the World Cup.
“I have tried to stay detached from this ‘not having won in 44 years’ idea,” he told Eurosport’s Eurogoals One-to-One. “When I first got here we had this Croatian ghost. I hope the same thing happens with the ghost of 66.
“I like the Ghostbusters idea. Let’s go with that because I want to take this team as far as possible.”
But Capello does feel that some of his players may need picking up after disappointing league and Champions League campaigns.
“It is always better to have players who have been winning than ones who are unhappy because of the national championship or Champions League went wrong,” he said. “But none of the teams strengthened. In England, only Manchester City did.
“If you sell your good players, obviously you will get a lot of money, but you have to buy other players to strengthen your team. Maybe because of the financial crisis, this didn’t happen.”
Capello also admitted he might never have become England coach if it had not been for the Calciopoli scandal which led to his departure from Italy.
“I wouldn’t have gone to Madrid, wouldn’t have gone six months without managing after leaving there and wouldn’t have been free to join England either,” he said. “It just shows anything negative can be seen as something positive.”
