When England failed to qualify for this years European Championships I fell out of love with football. I was pleased that we had the Beijing games to look forward to so I could find myself a new favourite sport. Then came along Fabio.

I don't think Capello's first year in charge couldn't have gone much better really - his record reads played 10, won eight, drawn one, with the only blip being the 1-0 defeat by France in March. It finished on a high beating Germany 2-1 in Berlin - a feat no team has achieved since 1973, the year the Vietnam war drew to a close and the year Pink Floyd released the album "Dark Side of the Moon".

But all the build up to this match focussed on who wasn't there.

No Gerrard, no Lampard, no Rooney, no Hargreaves, no Walcott, neither Ashley or Joe Cole....in fact only Goalkeeper David James, Captain John Terry and Gareth Barry were the only players from Capello's first XI that started. Not that you can generally guess his starting line up.

So how did a young, inexperienced England brush aside Germany - a team that came third in 2006 World Cup and runners up in this year European Championship?

The answer is that Capello has completely shaken up the England camp and changed the mentality of what it means to wear the England shirt, and what is expected of you. Gone are the Playstations and card tables, gone are the days of high jinx at the team hotel. Instead Capello broke down the egos like a Boot Camp Sergeant (not the strictly come dancing one) before slowly building them up together as a team....and that's the key word here, TEAM.

England have been criticised for years as a group of individuals who can perform of the highest stage for their clubs but not for their country. This is changing.

Capello has not shyed away from making big decisions, just ask Michael Owen. Not many international managers would have the guts to drop their most prolific striker but that's exactly what he has done. Not many expected Capello to go with Walcott over Beckham against Croatia.

The Italian has proved that a football team must work together and that each player is like a cog in a machine, each must play his own important role. That is how Greece won the European Championships in 2004, and that is why England's "second string" comfortably beat Germany. But German fans will always tell you that they only play well in competitive tournaments, they have that killer winning instinct that takes years to develop so let's not get carried away.

England may not have yet qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but they are well on their way, but one things for sure, i'm excited and I care about England again....although I think winning a penalty shoot out is still some way off.

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