London - England manager Fabio Capello said he was delighted at the performance of his understudies as England beat Germany 2-1 in an international friendly in Berlin on Wednesday. With eight first-team players sidelined through injury, Capello was forced to try out some relatively untested players, and they came through the test with flying colours as John Terry's late winner crowned a solid all-round performance.
"The result is important but the performance is very very good because we played here in Berlin against Germany, a good team," Capello told ITV.
"We played very well, had a lot of chances to score goals and I liked the attitude of the team. We played with confidence, which is very very important, and with personality."
Matthew Upson, filling in for Rio Ferdinand, was a dominant presence in the centre of defence and his first-half goal set England on their way.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stewart Downing, Michael Carrick and Gabriel Agonblahor all played well, and Capello said they had done themselves a lot of good in his future plans.
"I said yesterday that I have confidence in my team," Capello said. "We had the opportunity to know better some players who have not played many games for me. Now, after the game, I know better a lot of players.
"I don't like to speak about one player, always I speak about the team, but all the players played well. It's very important the spirit we play every game."
England captain Terry said Capello now had a few dilemmas when choosing his first 11.
"It was a good performance from the lads," Terry said.
"Obviously it's a young squad but we have given the manager a problem now, because it was a good performance.
"They have proved an awful lot. They had the confidence to get on the ball, turn, run at players. They are fearless, some of them. It's very exciting.
"Obviously we came here with a weakened squad, but it gave the youngsters a chance to play. They have showed everyone what they can do. We worked hard, wanted to be first to every ball."
Terry also had a few words of consolation for goalkeeper Scott Carson, whose second-half appearance as a substitute was noted for a misunderstanding between he and Terry for Germany's goal.
"Obviously I should have cleared it," Terry said. "It's not Scotty's fault, I should have cleared it. But I was delighted to get on the scoresheet and win the game."
And the captain was full of praise for Agbonlahor and Upson, the scorer of England's first goal.
"(Agbonlahor) worked his socks off all night, he is a real threat and a nightmare to deal with," Terry said.
"And (Upson) was different class tonight, he swept up brilliantly, won a lot of headers. He got us a goal, too, so he was fantastic."
