Capello was fuming after Ferdinand was initially shown a red card

England coach Fabio Capello hit out at the referee after his side's 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in their penultimate World Cup qualifying match on Saturday.

Sergiy Nazarenko scored the winner with a deflected shot off Ashley Cole after England had keeper Rob Green sent off.

Capello was furious after Rio Ferdinand was almost sent off instead of Green, who tripped Artem Milevskiy in the box.

"It was a big mistake, I need someone to explain to me how he can get that wrong," said Capello.

"Normally I don't speak about referees. This time I am changing my mind. Rio was running, the goalkeeper is diving.

"I spoke with the fourth official when the referee showed Rio the red card. He said he would tell the referee it was not Rio.

"The referee thought Rio had fouled the player but it so obviously was not him."

Capello confronted Slovenian referee Damir Skomina at the final whistle to express his dissatisfaction.

But despite the defeat in Ukraine which spoiled England's qualification record and contained several defensive lapses, Capello was proud of the way his side coped after going down to 10 men.

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"I am proud of my team," he said.

"In the second half we played very well and created a lot of chances, right until the very last minute."

Capello also defended Ferdinand who allowed Milevskiy to storm through the centre of England's defence to net the winner.

"He made one mistake, that is all, and that was for the penalty," he said. "The only other one was for the goal."

Ukraine coach Alexiy Mykhaylychenko was delighted to gain a win that should see his country make November's play-offs at Croatia's expense.

A win in Andorra on Wednesday is still required, although that should be a formality.

"I am really pleased to get this result. We still have a game to win but we have given ourselves the best possible chance," he said.

The Football Association will complain to Fifa about the number of flares which were thrown on to the pitch during the match.

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