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Wembley

to communicate with his players - and with 99 to spare.

"Fantastic" was Capello's considered and entirely correct verdict on a night when Ghana's supporters illuminated Wembley and the Black Stars combined with England to deliver one of the finest friendlies the stadium has seen in recent times.

Asamoah Gyan's injury-time equaliser, and the celebrations that followed among 21,000 visiting fans, was a reminder of the magic Ghana brought to the South African summer when they fell just short of reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

Gyan's goal cancelled out Andy Carroll's first international goal and deprived England of victory, but even Capello could not stop himself breaking out into a broad smile at the final whistle .

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Wembley

If Fabio Capello thrives on the aggravation that is part of the England coach's package, he must spend most of his life in a state of ecstasy.

The Italian moved seamlessly from one bone of contention to another when, having decided John Terry would be restored as permanent England captain, he announced mass changes for .

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And it was inevitable he would do so.

Yet Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, Tottenham defender Michael Dawson and the Chelsea trio of Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole from the squad to face Ghana drew renewed criticism of his methods.

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Cardiff

England arrived in Wales braced for high-intensity combat more akin to the Premier League than a Euro 2012 qualifier. .

Fabio Capello needed relief after a fortnight in which following his decision to reinstate John Terry as England captain at Rio Ferdinand's expense.

It was provided in abundance by an efficient England performance that saw courtesy of goals from Frank Lampard and Darren Bent, plus the unwitting assistance of a Wales side that threw a bucket of icy water over the fire and passion of Cardiff's magnificently atmospheric Millennium Stadium.

Wales were so poor that it provided heavy perspective for anyone tempted to heap excessive praise on England, but Capello rightly took huge satisfaction from three of his most significant selections.

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Cardiff

Fabio Capello swept into a Cardiff hotel just as the wedding party was making its way out - but there is still no sign of the England coach and deposed captain Rio Ferdinand making a happy couple.

Capello was always struggling to push England's crucial Euro 2012 meeting with Wales in the Millennium Stadium to the front of the agenda as the fall-out from his decision to reinstate John Terry continues to be scattered around his preparations.

And so it proved as Capello, with at times barely disguised irritation in a media briefing that occasionally carried a chaotic air, admitted he regretted some aspects of the manner in which Terry was reappointed and Ferdinand discovered he had lost his job.

Capello was at bay as he came under inquisition about his failure to inform Ferdinand personally that he had been stripped of the honour. , it is clear he cannot afford any more when England leave Cardiff on Saturday night. This is a game he must not lose.

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The sounds of one famous Welsh export had only just drifted away when England's thoughts turned to the danger posed to their Euro 2012 aspirations by another.

"Motorcycle Emptiness" by was a musical choice laced with irony as the media room at England's Hertfordshire base awaited the arrival of Peter Crouch.

And when Crouch started to unpick the potential pitfalls as England prepare to enter , he might have borrowed another phrase from Blackwood's finest - Know Your Enemy.

In this case the enemy is well-known and comes in the shape of his Tottenham team-mate Gareth Bale, Wales' best hope of breathing life into their Euro 2012 campaign and increasing the pressure on England coach Fabio Capello.

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John Terry's bleary eyes betrayed a sleepless night and maybe even a hint of the "overwhelming" emotion of reclaiming the England captain's armband after Fabio Capello's brief address to his squad at London Colney.

Capello's reinstatement of Terry has met with a mixed reception, and the man who lost the honour 13 months ago amid claims about his private life .

But even those of us who expressed reservations about Terry's reinstatement and the manner in which it was handled by Capello could not fail to be impressed by his performance in front of the media at England's Hertfordshire headquarters on Tuesday.

Terry, who will lead England in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, was humble but still bristled with moments of defiance as he made it clear several times that he disagreed with Capello's initial decision to strip him of the captaincy.

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John Terry will have had two flashbacks in the space of days - one to the era when he was England captain and another to a rainy Moscow night when he missed the penalty that cost Chelsea the Champions League.

Terry is and offers him the sight of redemption for .

Chelsea's pairing with Manchester United will revive memories of the 2008 final, , while Tottenham's route forward in a tournament they have graced is laced with booby traps but also belief, starting with a confrontation with Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid.

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Old Trafford

Dimitar Berbatov athletically vaulted over a barrier to avoid discussing his latest exclusion by Manchester United - but he is not finding it as easy to escape the looming shadow of Javier Hernandez.

Berbatov's status as top scorer with 20 goals this season has not protected him from falling victim to the rapid rise of the 22-year-old, who proved his pedigree once more with .

The Bulgarian's quality ensures he will figure prominently as United chase a treble in the closing weeks of the campaign and Sir Alex Ferguson manouevres his attacking resources.

But the performance of the predatory Hernandez in tandem with an improving Wayne Rooney, both in the FA Cup win against Arsenal and in securing a place in the last eight of the Champions League for the fifth season in succession, perhaps provided a signpost to the future for Ferguson.

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When the England captain's armband was passed speedily around Copenhagen's Parken Stadium last month without ever coming near John Terry, it was taken as final - and humiliating - confirmation that the man so ruthlessly removed from the role by Fabio Capello would never regain the honour.

As England concluded a 2-1 friendly win over the Danes, Terry waited for the call that never came as Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and finally Gareth Barry all wore the badge of office in the absence of first-choice Rio Ferdinand and deputy Steven Gerrard.

Sixth in line to the throne and maybe even lower, Terry revealed his hurt when he said: "I think they would have given it to one of the stewards ahead of me."

And yet it appears this public embarrassment for Terry melted Capello's heart sufficiently for the Italian to consider reinstating him to the job he lost last February amid allegations of a relationship with the ex-girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

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Eastlands

Sir Alex Ferguson will be forced to share a home with his "noisy neighbours" for a day after Manchester City set up an FA Cup semi-final meeting with Manchester United at Wembley.

Ferguson mockingly applied the tag to City after their Abu Dhabi-based owners embarked on a high-profile transfer policy that lured Carlos Tevez from Old Trafford -

The Scot will need to adopt more conventional measures to keep City under control as they claimed the place they crave alongside Manchester United on the biggest stage with a laboured 1-0 win over Reading at Eastlands.

United reign supreme in Manchester as Premier League pace-setters who are still in pursuit of the Champions League and FA Cup, but the first confrontation between the clubs at Wembley represents a huge opportunity for City and boss Roberto Mancini.

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Old Trafford

And then there was one. as his most emphatic answer to charges that Arsenal had forgotten how to win silverware.

In a brief spell of desperate disappointment, Wenger has watched Arsenal's aspirations picked apart as Carling Cup final defeat against Birmingham City was followed by a Champions League exit against Barcelona before this FA Cup quarter-final loss at Manchester United.

Wenger's trademark words of defiance emerged almost like a reflex action and his well-practised brave face did not survive long before of seeing Arsenal's targets removed one by one may have an impact on their final salvation, the Premier League title.

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White Hart Lane

As Harry Redknapp drove back to his Dorset home for a celebratory bacon sandwich and a cup of tea after taking Tottenham into the Champions League quarter-finals, he left behind a masterpiece of understatement.

"They wouldn't have seen this coming two years ago," said Redknapp in reference to the Spurs fans floating down Bill Nicholson Way and along the Seven Sisters Road .

What Spurs fans saw coming when Redknapp arrived to succeed sacked Juande Ramos in late October 2008 was a potential relegation fight and a long haul to restore credibility.

Now, two and a half years on, the scale of

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Anfield

Manchester United left Anfield su considerably more resolute and unified than the flimsy barricade so easily dismantled by Liverpool on an abject afternoon for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Perhaps Ferguson and United's chastened players were hoping the harrowing 90 minutes they endured at an exultant Anfield, especially at the flying footwear of Liverpool's new attacking idol Luis Suarez, was merely a bad dream.

No such luck for the silent knight. could just as easily have been attributed to acute embarrassment because the brutal reality and the real story was a defeat deservedly inflicted by a Liverpool team revived under Kenny Dalglish and galvanised by the sight of a United team that looked jaded and lacked - a factor of great significance - the absent Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

United are still favourites to claim the 19th title that will put them out on their own ahead of Liverpool, but they may need to rely on the generosity and failings of their rivals unless their form improves.

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Stamford Bridge

Manchester United may still hold the destiny of the Premier League title in their own hands but they let a potentially decisive victory slip carelessly through their fingers at Chelsea.

Amid the acrimony felt by Sir Alex Ferguson as he stalked towards referee Martin Atkinson at the final whistle after Chelsea's 2-1 win, only to think again and march back to the dressing room, this painful reality will have played a large part in his fury and frustration.

Ferguson was in no mood to appreciate the irony wrapped within his anger at Atkinson's failure to detect David Luiz's crude foul on Wayne Rooney at close quarters, an offence that would have warranted a second yellow card for Chelsea's outstanding defender.

United and Rooney were the beneficiaries of similar generosity following that stray elbow to James McCarthy at Wigan on Saturday, teasing the line "we can't dispute referee's decisions" from Ferguson's assistant Mike Phelan.

It was a message lost on after a defeat which threw the title race wide open, gave confidence to Chelsea that this season may yet yield success and offered hope and consolation to Arsenal after that shattering Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham City.

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