Unsurprisingly, praise has been unanimous for the England team and their coach after their thrilling 4-1 demolition of Croatia in Zagreb. Here's how the newspaper columnists saw the game in the cold light of day.
Most could not help but make the comparison between England's 5-1 win in Munich back in 2001, when the then 21-year-old Michael Owen conquered Germany with a hat-trick that instilled a great sense of hope for the future of the national game. We all know what has happened since then, but Theo Walcott's wonderful goalscoring performance at the Maksimir Stadium - inspired by some astute tactical manoeuvring from Fabio Capello - has had much the same effect.
Richard Williams in The Guardian wrote: "Walcott's performance was a triumph both for the player and for his manager. Intelligently deployed, he refused to be discouraged when things did not go right in the opening minutes and took each of his three chances with a sang-froid that Owen himself would have envied."
The Daily Mirror's Oliver Holt could not resist the temptation to draw comparisons with events in Germany, writing: "This is his [Capello's] Munich. This will make him fire-proof - just like beating Germany 5-1 gave Sven-Goran Eriksson a couple of years of being immune to criticism." Holt added that the England players showed "courage, skill and determination" and "assurance to claim this victory in one of the most hostile environments in the game".
John Dillon in the Daily Express said: "It delivered the joyful surprise of an England team playing with speed, precision, organisation, maturity and adventure in the box - words which had been expunged from the guide-book to our mis-adventures on the international stage." Meanwhile, former England striker Alan Smith hailed England's new found self-belief, which he believes emanates from a man "reeking of the stuff".
Smith wrote in The Daily Telegraph: "Forget the four stunning goals for a second. Concentrate instead on the well-balanced set-up of the side even before the opening goal and the discipline that coursed through every single player. That's what we wanted this highly paid import and, above all else, that's what Capello provided on a remarkable night."
Meanwhile Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp could barely contain his relief that this England team finally put in a performance worthy of their reputations. He wrote in his column in The Sun: "Capello has arrived in the nick of time to revitalise the best group of players this country has produced in ages, a crop of Premier League stars who have under-achieved for years under the Three Lions banner - until Wednesday night.
"Had we waited much longer, it could have been too late. Too many could have been past it. But, on Wednesday night, I believe the whole country sensed the England team had a refreshed look about it, even though the roll call of names has not changed that much in the past couple of years." Matt Dickinson in The Times identified the importance of the "mental fillip" the result has given to the entire England operation, "from the manager to the players and on to the supporters."
And Paul Haywood said in the Daily Mail: "It may have been only one performance, one step, but at least the players can be sure the build-up to the next match against Croatia will not feature pussycats in place of the three lions, as had been the case on one Zagreb newspaper". Those very Croatian newspapers did not make such good reading for Croatia coach Slaven Bilic, who came under fire in his homeland after being so comprehensively "outwitted" by Capello.
"It was payback time, and some," Jutarnji List daily said. "This is not [Steve] McClaren's England. This is a powerful team, at the moment stronger and better than Croatia." "Hats off, Mr. Capello," said a headline in another widely circulated daily, Vecernji List. "Fabio the Great has humiliated Bilic on the eve of his [40th] birthday."
"The wily Don Fabio has shown Bilic and our boys that they need some additional education. Bilic is highly talented but still needs to fully master the trade," the Vecernji List said.
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