England 'perfect' as World Cup host, says Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello says he believes England remains "the perfect country to host the World Cup" despite the recent controversy surrounding Lord Triesman.

Triesman quit as chairman of the 2018 World Cup bid after claims that he accused the Spanish and Russian football federations of bribery."My relationship with Lord Triesman was really good," England boss Capello told BBC Sport from the team's Austria base."I am sorry for what happened but now we are focused on what happens here."England's World Cup squad are training near picturesque Salzburg ahead of this summer's tournament, and captain Rio Ferdinand also took time out to support the 2018 bid.

2018 bid is more than one man - Ferdinand "The bid's bigger than any one individual. People come and go in the process but we'd still stage a great World Cup," he told the BBC. "I think this country has got all the tools to hold a tournament of that ilk. We will be great hosts."

Lord Coe, the mastermind behind London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics and a board member for the 2018 bid, insisted: "I don't think anybody in the world, including Fifa, doubts we have anything other than a great ability to deliver a fantastic World Cup.
"This does not become a bad bid overnight.
"I understand campaigns. We were bidding to stage an Olympic Games for the best part of three years.

Hurst remains confident over 2018 bid "Campaigns are marathons, not sprints. There's rarely anything that is so serious or so great that you are permanently derailed or you jump across the line in one fell swoop.

"You have to be consistent with your messages. What is the consistent message that we will be punching between now until the vote in Zurich? That we have stadiums in place that are extraordinary, we have passionate fans, we have a marketplace for football.

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