Tactically and technically they embarrassed England, reigniting an all too familiar debate about the fundamental deficiencies of English players. The question of whether there are cultural issues; whether England possess the quality to match the better teams in the world; whether they are a one-dimensional team lacking imagination.

Since then, however, they have evolved and now there is a sense of excitement, not least because of the emergence of players like Jack Wilshere, Joe Hart, Andy Carroll and Ashley Young. And they are playing in a formation — thanks to the rich ability of Wilshere — which enables them to produce exactly the kind of football Capello has been striving for since he took charge.

Comparisons can indeed be drawn with Germany, as Capello was only too happy to recognise. 'I hope that people will talk about us like they did about Germany,'he said. 'I hope so. These players are improving a lot and playing with confidence.

'It was really difficult to play against Ghana because physically they press a lot but we didn't try to play long ball; we tried to play and go forward with different moments. This is the most important thing.'

So is a new team emerging now? 'I think it's a good team, because technically they are a really good team. They have improved. The players who were not here are really good and the injured players, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard, they are really good. Don't forget them because these are really important players.

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