LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Fabio Capello plans to continue
as England coach until the end of his contract in 2012, the
English FA said on Friday after a newspaper quoted the Italian
as saying he planned to quit after the 2010 World Cup finals.
An FA spokesman said he had spoken to Capello, who had
clarified his comments made to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Capello said he was 'concentrating on one thing at a time at
the moment and giving his full concentration to the 2010 World
Cup', the spokesman said.
He added that the 62-year-old was not looking or thinking
beyond that target at the moment and said he had 'no intention
to quit the England job after the World Cup'.
Capello was quoted by La Repubblica as having identified the
end of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as his retirement
date.
'This is certain,' he told the Rome-based daily when asked if he no longer planned to coach
after the World Cup.
The comment came after he ruled out a possible return to
Italy as coach of the national team. But it seemed it was
intended to mean that the 2010 World Cup would be his first and
last as a national team coach.
'My shift ends with England,' he added. 'My work on the
field ends with the English experience.'
He added that he would like to end his career by taking
England to 'among the top three in the world' in South Africa.
He also complained about the amount of talent at his
disposal as England coach.
'I'm worse off than (Italy coach Marcello) Lippi,' he said.
'In the Premier League only 35 percent of the players are
English, while in Italy it is around 72 percent.'
Capello takes charge of England in a competitive match for
the first time when they begin their World Cup campaign in six
weeks' time.
