[ENGLAND] England is famous across continental Europe not just for excessive drinking, bad weather and a superior attitude, but also for its poor dietary habits and the mediocre quality of its food. Now England's Italian manager Fabio Capello has tackled the latter two issues by banning his players from eating fries at national team camp.

Capello told FIFA Magazine that he has "impressed upon [the players] the advantages of a Mediterranean diet over ketchup and chips." In the U.K., fries are known as "chips." What Americans understand as "chips," the Brits call "crisps." Capello did not say if crisps are also banned, but you can be sure they do not constitute a part of the Mediterranean diet.

The manager has stepped up discipline at team camps, and creating a more respectful distance between the coach and the players. He told the magazine that new "rules of conduct" included eating breakfast together, and switching off cellphones "from time to time."

Of course the players are only in camp together for a few days out of the year, so Capello's jurisdiction is limited. It is not known whether Wayne Rooney's local fish and chip shop in Manchester offers portions of sautéed Dover sole on a bed of Tagliatelli.