Fabio Capello has branded the controversial Jabulani World Cup ball as the worst he has ever known.

Although Switzerland and Uruguay injected some life into the competition yesterday, the lack of goals has been blamed on the ball, generally regarded as too lightweight, even though manufacturer Adidas claim it had be made to revolutionary specifications.

Capello is not a fan, and while he expects an improvement from his side in tomorrow's clash with Algeria in Cape Town, it will be no thanks to the ball he hates.

"This is the worst ball that I have seen in my life," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It is terrible for the players and it is terrible for the keepers.

"When you try to switch the ball with long passes it is really difficult to understand where it is going to go.

"But the really big problem is that sometimes this ball is impossible to control."

It was only part of a Capello grumble as he took a pot-shot at Franz Beckenbauer, having been irritated by the legendary German's claim that England are now a "kick and rush" team following the performance against the United States on Saturday.

"I am surprised by his comments," he said.

"When you speak about another team you should always respect them.

"It is easy to speak about a team when you sit in the stand. But you have to see the game live.

"We didn't play the long ball. We played a lot of passes and had chances to score.

"For this reason, I don't understand what Beckenbauer said."

Capello's strident views rather obscured revealing statements on his team which, unlike last week, seems to be known already, with just two notable exceptions.

"Robert Green made one mistake," said the Italian of his goalkeeper, who made such a calamitous error to gift Clint Dempsey a goal that cost England victory.

"But he also made a great save in the second half. I have to decide about the keeper because sometimes a mistake stays in the mind of the players so I want to speak with him."

With Gareth Barry certain to return after an ankle injury, the other doubt concerns the centre-forward slot where Emile Heskey, despite his generally effective contribution at the weekend, is being challenged for his place by Jermain Defoe, whose style is thought to be more suited to facing the north Africans.

"I need to choose who my other forward will be, Heskey or Defoe," he told ITV in a separate interview.