England striker Jermain Defoe has backed the Football Association’s decision to stick with manager Fabio Capello despite the team’s dismal performance at the World Cup in South Africa.

England scraped through their group before being taken apart 4-1 by Germany in the last 16 and the poor showing led to calls for Capello to resign or be dismissed.

However, the FA have decided to stand by the Italian through the Euro 2012 campaign.

While the players took a lot of the flak, Capello was criticised for sticking too rigidly to his tactical plan, his policy of naming his team just two hours before kick-off and for failing to create a positive atmosphere in the group.

But Tottenham forward Defoe said: “If you speak to the rest of the players they will all say the same thing, he’s a great manager and his CV speaks for itself.

“He’s got great ideas and he was just a little bit unlucky I think, but he’s a great manager. On record he is one of the best managers in the world and has been for a number of years so I can’t see why we would want to get rid of someone like that, it doesn’t make sense.

“I would definitely say the passion of the players has always been there and will never change.”