For all the involvement and industry of his players; of a tried and trusted coaching team to whom Stuart Pearce has been attached; of the physios, doctors and remainder of a backroom team justifiably basking in reflected glory, anyone who has witnessed England's transformation over the past 12 months knows Capello is the one who should really be thanked.

It is the Italian who has stormed through the dressing room, lifting players whose heads were on the floor, battered and bruised by embarrassment in the wake of a failure to reach Euro 2008; who spoke to them, yelled and cajoled them into believing, not in him, but in themselves.

The result is a fierce team spirit and pride in the Three Lions, a rising faith Capello has seen occur just once, in his final year at Real Madrid. The difference is at the Bernabeu he had those players every day. With England he has managed it in 10 games.

"The spirit now is as good as any group I have managed," he said.

"We had it at AC Milan but it was already there when I arrived.

"The nearest comparison is the last season at Real Madrid. I worked very hard to create the spirit within the group."

Spirit or passion can come from many different sources. Sir Alex Ferguson creates a siege mentality among his players, a them-and-us feeling that bonds and unites, making the group stronger as a whole.

Until William Gallas broke his silence, Arsene Wenger did it by convincing young men they have talent way beyond their tender years.

For Capello, for England, it is the shirt and the badge.

"The spirit comes from the shirt," he said.

"It is the most important thing for players in a national team. Look and see what happens during the national anthem. I see this spirit now."

Capello always knew it would take time. He would not say so but the spirit left behind by predecessor Steve McClaren had been shredded virtually beyond repair.

It is why, as England staggered unconvincingly through spring, narrowly beating Switzerland in his first game in charge before losing to France in his second, Capello remained certain his methods would work, once the spirit he craved had been lovingly pieced back together again.

"When you change the manager he has to understand a lot of things," he said.

"I needed time. Now I have seen that pride.

"The thing is if you want to win there has to be a positive spirit within the team. You must win and lose together.

"Without this, it is impossible because the only way you can achieve big things is by being together.

"Once you have it, then you need good players. When you play important games against the best teams in the world, it is impossible to win without good players."

Capello already knew he had good players. What he found against Germany was that he had more good players to replace them.

Middlesbrough fans know Stewart Downing is a class act, finally England's faithful have learned it too. Michael Carrick shone, Matthew Upson, in his fourth successive game, proved Capello need not fret should John Terry or Rio Ferdinand be missing.

On his debut, Gabriel Agbonlahor was neither expansive nor timid, prepared to graft when required with the confidence to try his luck when the opportunity arose. In Capello's words, Shaun Wright-Phillips 'ran like a crazy man'.

"The World Cup games we won were good but that performance was better because I see the new players play like old ones," he enthused.

"I am very happy about that because it means there is no problem with the next injuries.

"I can see two right-backs, four centre-halves, two left-backs, two left wingers, four forwards." The list goes on.

Nothing is left to chance, even if luck has its part to play.

"I didn't ask his advice, I just touched him," said Capello when asked what words of wisdom he sought from good friend - and World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi - on his appointment as England manager.

It is hard not to get swept up in the euphoria, difficult to remember there have been so many false dawns one wonders at times whether the sun really exists. But this is a team that could achieve something very big. Not that Capello is talking about it.

"National hero? Not me," he said.

"It is a long time before we reach South Africa and I never make promises.

"I just think a lot of things." So do we Fabio, so do we.