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JURY STILL OUT ON ENGLAND
Capello looks on in Barcelona.
It was not quite 'come back Steve McClaren, all is forgiven' but at times this threatened to push it close.
The way this match unfolded was uncannily similar to the embarrassment of the meeting between the same sides at the same venue 18 months ago.
Again, a gratingly dreadful first 45 minutes was followed by some grim realisation finally dawning on the England players that as millionaire professionals they really had to do better against a bunch of part-timers made up of students, a policeman and an insurance salesman.
What was the difference? Compared to the McClaren debacle, when the raucous half-time jeers humiliated England at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium before they struggled to a 3-0 win, Capello could at least point to the fact that he had freshened up a starting line-up which had become stale under his predecessor.
Even more importantly, with England's longer-term prospects in mind, Capello could point to the fact that his half-time substitutions turned the match - indeed, took only four minutes to do so.
Joe Cole's cool head and guile are qualities that Capello cannot afford to ignore. The Italian's decision to play the first half with Stewart Downing instead was perhaps his most bizarre choice - certainly on the other flank Theo Walcott justified his place.
England lacked patience and sang-froid in the first half with a sparky Walcott responsible for the only incidents of note, first lifting the ball narrowly over the crossbar and then laying on a peach of a chance for Wayne Rooney that the Manchester United striker, with uncharacteristic abandon, flashed high and wide.
That opportunity gone, England resorted to those awful, long, hopeful balls in which pleased no one but statisticians counting on a fortunate bounce.
What was desperately needed was a cool head, and it was Cole who provided it, and in the nick of time.
Four minutes into the second half, Joleon Lescott cushioned Frank Lampard's ball expertly into Cole's path and the Chelsea midfielder lashed the volley past Andorra's keeper Koldo.
Seven minutes later, he finished expertly again after Rooney's only moment of significant quality saw the United player slide a lovely reverse pass into his path.
So 2-0 to England: actually, not as good as the result that McClaren's side achieved.
Yet the feeling this time was more positive. Perhaps because this is the start of Capello's era rather than the middle, perhaps also because there are at least signs that he has a pragmatism and confidence in his selections that McClaren lacked.
The real test, of course, will come against Croatia on Wednesday. For now, the jury is still out on Capello but this result ensures a draw or a win next week will swing the judgement in his favour - for the time being at least.
