Fabio Capello delighted at "confident" England progress on road to World Cup

Fabio Capello is not a man given to extravagance but even the Italian admits England's World Cup adventure has exceeded his wildest expectations.

As Capello and his players flew back from Almaty after a tricky task once more well done, the road to South Africa has never looked more open.

And after England's remarkable World Cup scoring streak under the Italian was extended by another ohso-easy away win, Capello sent out a warning to his side's future rivals.

"I think we're turning into the confident team I hoped we would become," said Capello. "Confidence is the most important thing for the players and the team.

"We know we can score at any moment, from any situation. This is really a big thing. It was important we showed this and we have through the campaign.

"In Kazakhstan there were goals from corners, from different moves, from everywhere. That's what I wanted."

It seems an awfully long time ago that England under Steve McClaren viewed every game as a potential minefield.

In less than a year of competitive action, Capello has not only laid to rest McClaren's Croatian ghost, but unleashed Wayne Rooney's scoring potential, which had been virtually dormant since Euro 2004.

Rooney's smartly-taken sixth of the campaign killed off any Kazakhstan hopes of a grandstand finish after Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey - with his first competitive goal in seven years - had done the necessary in the first period.

And once the excellent Frank Lampard showed the same nervelessness from the spot he did under McClaren on that horrible Wembley night in November 2007 as England flopped again, Capello was able to look forward with real conviction.

Croatia's home draw with Ukraine means the nailed-on win against Andorra on Wednesday would leave England needing just one more win from three games to confirm their place at the World Cup. Even a home draw against Slaven Bilic's team in September might be enough.

Not only have England produced an unprecedented six-game winning streak, the two goals in each half in the Central Stadium made it 20 so far to put them top of the total aggregate European scoring charts and also the goals-per-game league.

Capello said: "It's my job to look at the squad and build one that will score goals. Throughout my career as a manager it's been the same.

"You have to build a team, you have to build confidence, you have to build a system of play, everything.

"England was a very important team, with very important players and since I came I have worked every day.

"When I came in it was impossible to think we would do what we have - I just hope it continues the same way.

"It's better than I thought. After six games, 18 points is a lot. But it's not finished. We are in the middle of the work, only halfway there. Now we have to look forward to working every day. Work, work, work and practise. We need to improve."

That, of course, is Capello's mantra, the work ethic and sense of team he demands of all his players.

It is why he was so angry with the slipshod opening, epitomised by Glen Johnson's sloppy error, that required a crucial clearance from John Terry inside 18 seconds, and galvanised a fervent home crowd.

Theo Walcott was also subdued, although replacement Shaun WrightPhillips was more like Shaun WrongPhillips, and there were too many hit-and-hope aimless long balls.

Capello said: "I was disappointed by the positions of some of the players in the first half. I tried to tell them, but they couldn't hear me.

"Sometimes we waited too much off the ball and were not pressing. We have to go to the ball and win it to create openings.

"I said there would be no excuses, but the grass was so long it was impossible to play as fast as we wanted and when we tried to switch play you had to force it too much to get it out of the grass. The ball always went too high. I had spoken to the players twice and talked about what to expect. But Robert Green didn't have to make a save."

That was thanks to the solidity of Terry and Matthew Upson, if not Johnson, although the Portsmouth man did create Rooney's goal, while at the other end, Heskey was always readily available.

The only sour note for Capello was the harsh booking that rules out Barry, the only ever-present under the Italian, from Wednesday's game, although the new Manchester City man shrugged that aside to angle home Steven Gerrard's terrific cross for the first.

Yet having to play Gerrard and Lampard in the middle is hardly a heartbreaker.

Wembley will expect the floodgates to open again. So, you suggest, does Don Fabio.

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