LONDON: In other circumstances, Fabio Capello would be pilloried for leaving a Football Association function early on Monday to attend the Christmas party of Marca, the Spanish sports newspaper, in Madrid.
But, at the moment, he can do no wrong.
After leading England to a record-breaking four successive World Cup qualifying wins, in addition to a memorable victory over Germany in Berlin, he appears to be a national hero in the making.
If not a cause for riotous celebration, the first anniversary of his introduction as England manager on Monday was an appropriate moment to acknowledge some excellent work in progress.
Capello considers that his most important contribution since taking charge has been restoring the confidence of his players after the disappointment of the Steve McClaren era.
The Italian deserves considerable credit for instilling self-belief after inheriting a shattered squad for his first match in charge, against Switzerland in February.
'When we played the first game against Switzerland, I understood it,' Capello said.
'In training, the players were fantastic, physical and had confidence, but playing at Wembley, they were not the same players. I understood in that moment what happened in their minds.
'I think something has been fixed. The spirit of the club has been recovered in the group.
'Sometimes, you can win a game or one player can score a goal but, without the right spirit, you can't do it the next time. The most important work will be to keep this psychologically.'
Capello believes that the breakthrough came in the 0-1 defeat by France in March, because, for the first time, his players showed signs of being able to compete against a leading footballing nation.
He said: 'I think the most important thing we did was when we lost against France. We were in the dressing-room, I said to them, 'I'm happy because you made a step forward'.
'The players thought I was crazy, but I was happy because we played against France, World Cup runners-up, in Paris and for half an hour, played very well. When we can play for half an hour, we can play like that the whole game. This is why, after this game, I felt we went forward.'
