LONDON: Fabio Capello has given an honest assessment of England’s dismal performance at the World Cup and admits he would not have blamed the Football Association if they had sacked him.

Much was expected from Capello and England in South Africa following their impressive qualification campaign.

But the England players produced a series of dismal displays as they bowed out in the second round following a 4-1 defeat against Germany and Capello was accused of failing to get the best out of his squad.

The Italian coach had never seen one of his teams perform that poorly and for a few days it seemed he may well be sacked as the criticism grew stronger.

Eventually the FA decided to retain his services, but Capello would have had no complaints if they had terminated his contract.

"I would have understood if the FA decided to sack me. This is not a good period for me but I am looking forward. It is our job. When you win you are the best and when you lose it is nothing," Capello said.

"The fans had a lot of confidence in the team and the results weren`t possible.

"I also had a lot of confidence in the team because my target was to play the final and we didn`t play."

Capello is expecting England fans to boo the team when they play their first match since the World Cup - a friendly against Hungary at Wembley on Wednesday.

The England coach admits they have every right to voice their discontent with the way his team performed in South Africa, but he has vowed to put things right and ensure they reach the European Championships in 2012.

Capello added: "I understand the supporters. I think they will boo, but we need the support of the fans. It`s possible they will boo on Wednesday.

"I want to improve and play at the Euros because it will be very important for me.

"I spoke a lot about the situation but I am a fighter and I never stop in my career. I am always looking forward.

"The first target is to qualify. After we can speak about will happen in Ukraine and Poland. We will try to do something different."

Capello believes England`s players were far too tired to show their best form in South Africa after a gruelling domestic season and he knew before the tournament even got underway that his team could struggle.

He has demanded a winter break, but feels that will be virtually impossible as the Premier League have to accommodate the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League into their schedule already.

Capello can only control what he does with his players if they reach Euro 2012 and will ensure they have as much rest as possible before the tournament.

He said: "In Germany they suspend the Bundesliga for one month and the German players always arrive in a good condition. In Italy it is for two weeks and in other countries like Spain it is the same.

"Here it is impossible because we have four competitions. For this, it is impossible to suspend it.

"All the competitions are really hard and the same teams arrive at the final. The teams that have the best players will be there.

"For this reason it’s impossible to find a break in the winter but I hope to change something before this tournament.

"I always remember when Denmark won the 1992 European Championships. They were on the beach and arrived four days before the first game because Yugoslavia were out of the tournament."

BDST: 1504HRS, August 8, 2010