Booze, don’t lose
England’s more relaxed playing style against Slovenia was down to a pre-match pint, according to Fabio Capello. The England coach relaxed his strict rules ahead of the match to allow his squad to have a beer the night before the match.
The Italian was convinced to change his approach after England’s tense opening two games.
He said: “The players were allowed to drink beer before the game. You can ask them. I changed something, I used my imagination. It was free South African beer.”
Frank Lampard has since suggested that the players’ performance might not have been quite so alcohol dependent.
He said: “The offer of a beer was there but no-one took him up on it. A lot has been made about the boredom in the hotel. You can’t come away for a month and live like a monk.
“The manager is aware of that and it’s not like that. Sometimes those things are on offer and it’s up to you if you take therm. You just don’t have ten beers, you might have one or two.”
