England were beaten 2-0 in the Maksimir Stadium when the then head coach Steve McClaren opted to play a 3-5-2 formation in a game which will be remembered for Paul Robinson's 'air shot' which led to the second and decisive goal.

Capello has seen brief highlights but has instead chosen to focus on how Croatia are performing circa 2008 via the European Championship finals rather than re-run that night to forget in October 2006.

The former Real Madrid coach said: "I saw Croatia three times during the summer and it is a strong team.

"They play fantastic counter-attacking football. We will have to stay in good positions always on the pitch. That is very important.

"If you are not balanced on the pitch, they are a very dangerous team on the counter-attack.

"I know what happened two years ago but I haven't watched a tape of the game. For me, I always prefer to watch the teams direct on the pitch.

"If you study a video, you can see only one part of the pitch. It is not enough. I prefer to watch live games of Croatia.

"On tape it is difficult to understand what has happened, why a player is suddenly free, how did the counter-attack come about etc, because there is too little you can see."

Capello also laughs off suggestions he will be judged on what happens in Zagreb with the qualifying campaign having only just got under way.

He said: "Will this game represent judgement day for me? If you want, it will be this," he laughed.

"But it is the second game of the group. We have to play Ukraine, Belarus, etc after this.

"We have to play a lot of games. Of course, this is an important game psychologically because we have lost the last two games with Croatia.

"But I usually don't speak about the games we lose. I speak always about the future. The future is tomorrow, the next game, always."

Capello wants England to be solid on Wednesday evening but in addition is hoping they have the quality to stamp their mark on the Croatians.

He said: "I study opponents always and I think also that when we play them, we have to impose our style. You have to respect opponents but we have to impose our style.

"I hope we play with courage and not fear. All England games are very important for me. It is an exciting game and I want to get points on the board."

Defender Rio Ferdinand has been passed fit after recovering from a neck problem.

Theo Walcott could hold onto his place ahead of David Beckham after being used in parts of Tuesday evening's training session in the right midfield role, although Capello will not announce his team to the players until a couple of hours before kick-off.