Capello brings smile back to national team

Fabio Capello deserves all the credit he is getting after leading England to the World Cup finals in South Africa next June.

The Football Association made a bold decision when they appointed the Italian as England's national coach.

Some might disagree but the coach's nationality should not be an issue when the country is looking to make progress and you have no-one around capable of doing the job.

In the last World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Wembley, where Capello left out some of the regulars to give the reserves a run-out, England emerged with an emphatic 3-0 victory.

On that occasion, Peter Crouch scored his 15th and 16th goals in 17 starts for the Three Lions.

Against Belarus, David Beckham's presence lifted Wembley as the veteran midfielder was greeted with a roar of approval by the fans.

He soon left his mark in what was his 115th appearance for the country.

Reports suggest that Beckham will rejoin Milan in January to keep himself in shape for the World Cup finals.

After England won the World Cup in 1966 and qualified as holders four years later, they failed to qualify for the next two tournaments. The sacking of Sir Alf Ramsey was indeed a big blunder by the FA.

England returned to the world scene in 1982 for the finals in Spain, clinching their place with a 3-1 win over Hungary in Budapest.

In 1986 and 1990, England qualified to Mexico and Italy respectively with undefeated records.

But more misery was in store for England in 1994 as, for the third time in the country's history, they failed to reach the finals in the United States.

In the last three editions, where the number of finalists was increased due to the addition of new members at FIFA, England qualified but failed to make inroads in the knock-out stages.

Can Capello break that barrier?

The following is a rundown of former England managers' performances:

Alfred Ramsey: 1966 winners, 1970 quarter-finals, 1974 did not qualify.

Don Revie: 1978 failed to qualify.

Ron Greenwood: 1982 finals, second phase.

Bobby Robson: 1986 quarter-finals, 1990 fourth place.

Graham Taylor: 1994 failed to qualify.

Glenn Hoddle: 1998 second round after group phase.

Sven-Goran Eriksson: 2002 quarter-finals.

Ferdinand, Lampard in top 20

After their last appearance for England against Belarus, defender Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Frank Lampard made it into the Top 20 of the all-time appearance list.

1. 125 − Peter Shilton; 2. 115 − David Beckham; 3. 108 − Bobby Moore; 4. 106 − Bobby Charlton; 5. 105 − Billy Wright; 6. 90 − Bryan Robson; 7. 89 − Michael Owen; 8. 86 − Kenny Sansom; 9. 85 − Gary Neville; 10. 84 − Ray Wilkins;11. 80 − Gary Lineker; 12. 79 − John Barnes; 13. 78 − Stuart Pearce; 14. 77 − Terry Butcher; 15. 77 − Steven Gerrard; 16. 77 − Ashley Cole; 17. 76 − Thomas Finney; 18. 76 − Rio Ferdinand; 19. 76 − Frank Lampard; 20. 75 − David Seaman.