Fabio Capello believes England will fail to reach the Euro 2012 final even if they beat Italy in Sunday s quarter-final.
Roy Hodgson s side face Italy in Kiev after winning Group D and are in a buoyant mood, with the former West Brom boss still unbeaten with the national team.
But Capello, the man Hodgson replaced, is predicting a Germany-Spain final while also admitting he has mixed emotions ahead of the clash between his native country and former team.
I have contrasting sentiments about Sunday s game, the 66-year-old told the Mirror.
I worked with England for four years and I can t easily forget that. However, Spain and Germany will be the two finalists at Euro 2012.
Germany face Greece on Friday, with Spain playing France on Saturday, and Capello went on to elaborate on the clash of styles he is expecting if the two countries do reach the final.
The potential match-up would be a repeat of the 2008 final, which Spain won 1-0 thanks to a Fernando Torres goal.
Germany have an incredible spirit and have real strength, while Spain are the side who play the best football even if they are missing something in attack – they need a player like Lionel Messi, Capello said.
Generally speaking, I think that these two sides are superior to the rest of the teams in the competition.
