Capello acknowledged England have made giant strides under his leadership during 2008 - but warned the final step forward will be the hardest one of all.

In nine previous games in charge, Capello had already instilled a belief England could be onto something good. Wednesday night in Berlin came final confirmation.

Shorn of eight members of his first-choice line-up - including Theo Walcott, who sustained a freak shoulder injury in training 24 hours before kick-off, but excluding Owen Hargreaves, who many would regard as an automatic choice if injury had not ravaged the last year and a half of his career - England went at the heart of Germany and produced as accomplished a performance as many seasoned observers can remember.

Yes, the Three Lions put four goals past Croatia in Zagreb. But that Croatian team were a shadow of their former selves and played with 10 men for more than half an hour after Robert Kovac was sent off.

Yes, England subsequently went to Minsk and dismantled a Belarus side not to be taken lightly. And yes, on both occasions, World Cup points were at stake.

However, on neither occasion did England produce the complete performance that lit up the Olympic Stadium.

Apart from the aberration between John Terry and Scott Carson that cost Capello's side a goal and put victory hopes in jeopardy until the skipper redeemed himself seven minutes from time, it was near perfect.

Far too often in the recent past, English hopes and dreams have been allowed to run rampant, unchecked by reality. Now the reality matches the aspiration.

Not that Capello will be bothered. Single-minded and resolute, he knows how much work still lies ahead.

"We have to keep improving," he said. "We always have to do that.

"We have done a lot of work and improved a lot of things. We are at a different level now compared to where we were before.

"But the last stage is not easy."

The last stage may involve adopting a German - or, more pertinently, Italian - mindset.

Games need to be closed down, opponents' spirit needs to be crushed, something England palpably failed to do against Germany.

The rest. Well, Capello knows himself.

"I am happy with everything," he admitted.

"Movement with the ball was good. Movement without the ball was equally good. Tactically, I felt we were very strong and that was important."

It is incredible to think 12 months ago, England had been humiliatingly turfed out of Euro 2008 at the qualifying stage. On their knees, embarrassed and ridiculed.

Apart from Gabriel Agbonlahor, whose debut showed a maturity way beyond his 22 years, the same group of players who dazzled so spectacularly last night were such miserable failures then.

Stewart Downing, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Carrick, Matthew Upson; they could all have been called upon by then boss Steve McClaren and were on occasion. They were part of a collective disaster. One year on, they were a joy to behold.

"We have worked a lot with the coaches and all the people who work around the team," explained Capello.

"We needed to recover the confidence and spirit.

"The players have a lot of ability but they were only showing it in training and in the Premier League, not with the national team.

"Changing that is one of the most important things we have done."

The difference is, without doubt, Capello himself.

Hired at not inconsiderable cost of £6million-a-year - until the credit crunch and falling pound altered the exchange rate and thereby his salary - Capello's hard-line reputation went before him.

It turns out he is not so much hard-line as focused. Anything deemed to be a waste of time, in thought or personnel, is simply discarded.

To many, Rio Ferdinand was the perfect England captain, able to perform on the pitch and articulate thought-provoking messages off it. Capello was not interested in that wider role. He wanted an obvious leader on the pitch, so Terry got the job.

Michael Owen has not played often enough for Newcastle this year, so he ended up being ignored. And, 40 goals or not, the wagon train is moving along nicely without him.

The vast majority have thrived in the atmosphere Capello has generated. They can see the vision, they can see the results and they understand the futility of argument.

In leading 'Club Capello', England's coach wants everyone united in a common cause. With the clock turned midnight, he made a point of shaking the hand of every player on board the flight back home to congratulate them and thank them.

Equally, they cannot fail to comprehend any time spent basking in what was achieved in Berlin last night is counter-productive.

Let fans enjoy the memories, Capello is only looking towards a February meeting with Spain.

"It is always the same for me," he reasoned. "The victory is in the past, I am thinking about the future.

"We still have things to do. We still have to play Spain.

"Beating Germany means nothing now. It does not count anymore."