Capello will retire after England

Fabio Capello plans to continue as England coach until the end of his contract in 2012, the English FA said today 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 (www.repubblica.it) 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.