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Fabio Capello has warned his England players that they must make sacrifices off the pitch over the next three months to avoid any repeat of the recent controversies that have threatened to deflect the national team's attention from this summer's World Cup finals.

The Italian pinpointed the wealth lavished on young players in the modern game as the root of the problems which have flared up too often to wreck the reputations of the likes of Ashley Cole and John Terry, his deposed captain, over the past month.

The England manager will seek evidence that standards have not slipped on the pitch against Egypt this evening having reminded his squad of their wider responsibilities with the team's first game in the World Cup, against the United States, only 100 days away.

"The private life is a big problem for some players, but also a big problem for their clubs and, in the end, for me," said Capello. "It'll be really important that the players, in this last period [before the World Cup], are careful in their own private lives at every moment. These are important players and they have to be an example to the children and all the fans. For that reason, they have to stay careful and sacrifice something in their lives."