He pressed the flesh and smiled dutifully as they queued to have their pictures taken and shook his head with a knowing nod when one ardent fan came up to request an autograph and then left with the parting shot: “Thank you, Fabio. England needs you.”

Welcome to Fabio Capello's day off. The England manager has not had much time to himself since he took over one of the most demanding jobs in football and this was only a tiny gap in the schedule of Euro 2008 matches that have consumed his time over the past fortnight. At least his day off was away from the lager-fuelled crowds in their replica shirts, the touchline traumas and the tribal hatreds.

This was a day out watching a sport about as far removed from football as it gets - polo, and at the Ham Polo Club in genteel Richmond-upon-Thames, one of London's poshest suburbs, where lager was replaced by champagne, replica shirts by linen suits and there was not anything so unseemly as a grandstand. But then, the riff-raff were very definitely excluded from this gathering of high rollers. The guests of Jaeger-LeCoultre, a bespoke Swiss watchmaker, were so upmarket that they managed to put up £77,000 for a children's charity in the space of a couple of hours while Capello looked on, beaming. He was even polite enough to wear one of Jaeger-LeCoultre's watches: for the record, a £4,500 Reverso Squadra Chronograph GMT, which has the virtue of displaying two time zones, perfect for an England manager dashing between international assignments.

Capello had flown in from Milan yesterday morning after watching the final group matches at Euro 2008 and was flying straight back to prepare to watch the quarter-final between Croatia and Turkey. At least the Italian will be well prepared for Croatia when England meet them in the qualifying phase of the 2010 World Cup this autumn. By tonight, he will have seen all four of their Euro 2008 games - and he admires what he sees. “They are very good,” he said. “They have spirit and they work as a very good team. They are dangerous.”

Dark horses, even, he reckons, although Capello believes Holland should be good enough to see off all challengers, including Portugal, another team who take his fancy.

But this was not a day for football worries. Capello slipped easily between Italian and French as he met the international group of guests, even enthusiastically trying out his English, which improves by the day. “I am still having lessons every day when I am in England, but right now, I am speaking Italian in Italy and French and Italian in Switzerland,” he said. “It is confusing.”

The matches at Euro 2008 are conveniently placed for Capello to make relatively short journeys from his home in Lugano in the southern, Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Capello, with his wife, Laura, is trying to devote more time to his new house in Chelsea, a lost cause at the moment as he jets between matches and makes time to spend with his mother, Evelina, 85, who still lives in the Friuli region of Italy where Capello grew up.

It means he has been unable to explore London's art galleries and museums, something he is desperate to do as an art lover with a collection worth an estimated £17million. “I like London a lot,” he said. “It has great restaurants and good places to go. I like it very, very much. And I like the English ways, like the polo. You have so much going on, especially sports.”

But not, at present, football and Capello said he is itching to get back into action. First, though, there is Croatia's game tonight and another chance to size up the opponents who could still damage England's chances of qualifying for the next big international tournament in the calendar.

Slaven Bilic, Capello's counterpart as Croatia coach, has no injury worries, though overconfidence might prove a problem. “Every team in the quarter-finals has a chance,” Niko Kranjcar, the Portsmouth midfield player, said. “But we have the better team and the better individuals.”

It could be Goodnight Vienna for Turkey, with Volkan Demirel, the goalkeeper, and Mehmet Aurélio, the midfield player, ruled out by suspension. Fatih Terim, their coach, also has several injury doubts, but his side are nothing if not resilient, overturning deficits to beat Switzerland and the Czech Republic to reach the last eight. “We have to take the initiative from the beginning,” Mehmet Topal, the midfield player, said.

Croatia (probable; 4-4-1-1): S Pletikosa - V Corluka, R Kovac, J Simunic, D Pranjic - D Srna, N Kovac, L Modric, I Rakitic - N Kranjcar - I Olic.

Turkey (possible; 4-4-2): Reçber Rüstü - Hamit Altintop, Emre Asik, Servet Çetin, Hakan Balta - Mehmet Topal, Emre Belözoglu, Arda Turan, Tuncay Sanli - Nihat Kahveci, Semih Sentürk.

Referee: R Rosetti (Italy).

Television: Live on BBC One from 7.30pm (kick-off 7.45pm).