WORLD CUP 2010: Fabio Capello heads for crunch talks with FA after insisting he won't quit as England manager

By Matt Lawton and Charles Sale from Bloemfontein

Fabio Capello has left it to his FA paymasters to decide whether to back him or sack him after the team's crushing World Cup defeat by Germany in Bloemfontein.

Capello tried to hide behind the astonishing blunder by the Uruguayan officials who failed to spot that Frank Lampard's shot had dropped almost a yard over the goal-line during the heaviest loss in England's World Cup history.


But it left Capello accepting he would be criticised for his failure, and while he insisted he would not resign he did concede it was up to his employers to decide if he should remain as England manager to the end of his £6million-a-year deal.

Insiders close to the Italian said he would not put up a fight if the FA want him to go.

Asked if he intended to stay in charge, Capello said: 'We have time to decide. I want to speak with the chairman to decide my future and see whether he has confidence in me or not.

'But resign. No. No. Absolutely no.'

Sir Dave Richards is the chairman of Club England who will have the final say on Capello's future.

But he is being advised by senior FA members in South Africa not to make any knee-jerk decision.

Club England managing director Adrian Bevington said, in his opinion, 'nothing had changed'.


Mullered: Germany make it four as England crash out to pile the pressure on Fabio Capello


Capello meets the media back at England's Royal Bafokeng training base near Rustenburg this afternoon.

The FA removed a break clause in Capello's contract before the World Cup, meaning they would have to pay up the two years of his contract should they sack him.

But the furore over his expensive rule over an underperforming team might force the FA's hand.

Last night Capello tried to blame the officials who disallowed Lampard's goal for the defeat.

He said: 'We played with five referees and they cannot decide whether that it is a goal or not. It is incredible there is no technology.

'That one goal would have made the game completely different.'


Big shout: Rooney and Lampard appeal for a goal which had clearly crossed the line


Even Germany coach Joachim Low and man of the match Thomas Muller agreed that the South American officials made a huge error in disallowing Lampard's goal.

The Chelsea midfielder let fly from 20 yards and saw the ball crash down off the bar, just as it did when these two sides met in the World Cup final in 1966.

This time, though, there was no debate about whether it crossed the line as it crashed down.

TV replays showed it was clearly two feet over the line but assistant referee Mauricio Espinosa inexplicably failed to spot it and play was allowed to go on.


Not so Fab: Capello gestures on the touchline - furious after seeing Lampard's effort ruled out


'We heard the ball was behind the line,' admitted Muller. 'It was a bit of luck, which we had to seize with both hands.'

'It should have been given,' added Low.

'We have to speak about this goal. We have to speak about a mistake from the linesman - and the referee because I could see it had gone in from the touchline. I saw the ball bounce and go over the line.

'I do not understand this mistake.'


Easy as 1,2,3,4: Low celebrates another goal as his side hammer England in Bloemfontein


Capello was at a loss to explain why his players had performed so far below expectations, other than cite their general tiredness after a long season.

'Look, we probably arrived a little bit tired at the end of the season. But after the game that they played against Slovenia, we suffered from Germany's speed today.

'But I say again, I am sure that a big mistake from the referee stopped us from going forward.'

Low though took a different perspective on how the contest unfolded.


All over: Low shakes Capello's hand after winning the tactical clash with the England boss


He confirmed Germany had targeted a defensive weakness in English ranks which his young side exploited to the full.

'We knew that the midfielders - Gerrard and Lampard - always support the forwards and that their midfield would be open, we knew there would be spaces.

'Our objective was to set Terry up with Klose to force him to come out of the defence. We knew the full-backs would be very much to the side, and that would create space that we could penetrate.

'We could have been 3-0 up in the first half because we did penetrate them.'


source: dailymail