Fabio Capello took a matter of seconds to draw a line under the debate about whether Wayne Rooney would face Switzerland in Basle - and reached the correct conclusion, according to BBC Sport's Phil McNulty.
Rooney's display in England's 4-0 win against Bulgaria in the opening Euro 2012 qualifier confirmed he is physically fit and edging towards his world-class best. Once Capello knew he was mentally fit after a weekend of newspaper allegations about his private life, there was no decision to take.
Capello is the ultimate pragmatist. He wants Rooney in action at St Jakob Park on Tuesday, and if there are any problems swirling around the Manchester United striker, England's coach obviously feels they are not his. He is only interested in England getting the win that would make it a perfect start to their qualifying campaign.
Capello's strident and swift announcement that Rooney will play in Switzerland immediately led to an inquisition about whether he was applying double standards. He was reminded about how ruthlessly he stripped John Terry of the captain's armband after his alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge - and again had a ready answer.
Capello pointed out that while he had removed the captaincy from Terry he never dropped him from the team, clearly feeling the Chelsea defender's ability to lead his country by example had been fatally compromised.
The true test of Capello's decision will come in St Jakob Park once the action gets under way - but McNulty believes England's coach has taken the only serious option left open to him once he had spoken to Rooney and convinced himself of the striker's state of mind.
