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Fabio Capello

Personal information
Date of birth	(1946-06-18) 18 June 1946 (age 66)
Place of birth	San Canzian d'Isonzo, Italy
Playing position	Midfielder (retired)
Youth career
1963–1964	SPAL
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1964–1967	SPAL	49	(3)
1967–1970	Roma	62	(11)
1970–1976	Juventus	165	(27)
1976–1980	Milan	65	(4)
Total		341	(45)
National team
1972–1978	Italy	32	(8)
Teams managed
1987	Milan
1991–1996	Milan
1996–1997	Real Madrid
1997–1998	Milan
1999–2004	Roma
2004–2006	Juventus
2006–2007	Real Madrid
2008–2012	England
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Fabio Capello (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfabjo kaˈpello]; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian football manager and former professional footballer. Capello was born in San Canzian d'Isonzo. His uncle, Mario Tortul was also a football player and played for Triestina, Padova, Sampdoria and the Italian national football team. Capello is married and has a son named Pier Filippo who acts as his agent. Capello is also a collector of fine art and has a personal collection thought to be worth over £10 million.

As a player Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which lasted over 15 years. He won the Coppa Italia with Roma in 1969. He was most successful with Juventus, winning three Serie A titles in 1972, 1973 and 1975. With Milan he won the Coppa Italia again in 1977 and also won another Serie A in 1979. Capello also played for Italy during his career and amassed 32 caps, scoring eight goals as well.

As a manager, Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career. In his first five seasons as a manager he won four Serie A titles with Milan, where he also won the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, defeating Barcelona 4–0 in a memorable final. He then spent a year at Real Madrid, where he won the La Liga title at his first attempt, and in 2001 led Roma to their first league title in 18 years. Capello also won two titles at Juventus (which were later stripped after the Calciopoli scandal), and in 2006 returned to Real Madrid, where he won another La Liga title. Overall he has won a major league championship in seven (or nine, counting the two revoked titles with Juventus) of his 16 seasons as a coach. Capello was appointed as England manager on 12 December 2008. During his time as England manager he successfully guided the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where they were knocked out in the second round, and 2012 European Championship. On 8 February 2012, he resigned as manager due to a dispute with The Football Association.

Club career[link]

A midfielder, Capello first played as a youth for his local club side (Pieris in the land of Bisiacaria, between Isonzo and Timavo) which was coached by his father, Guerrino. He was signed by Paolo Mazza, the President of SPAL, for the fee of two million lire despite interest from AC Milan. In his second season in the youth team he helped the club win the Italian Youth Championship and made his first-team debut against Sampdoria on 29 March 1964. He made four appearances for a struggling side that was relegated from Serie A giving him experience of both success and failure in the same season. After returning to the top division at the first attempt, Capello became a key player in the 1965–66 season, taking penalties and helping them avoid a swift return to Serie B. He was also called up to the Italian Under-23 side along with teammate Edy Reja. However, injury to his left knee restricted him to just sixteen appearances the following season. In 1967, he moved to Roma where he became a key player for the club. In his first season, he helped them to first place after eight matches, including scoring the winner in a 10–9 victory over Juventus. However, a recurrence of the injury to his left knee kept him out for the rest of the season and Roma eventually finished in tenth place, just 5 points away from relegation. The following season, under new manager Helenio Herrera, a fit Capello scored 6 goals as Roma finished 8th and won his first major trophy, the Coppa Italia. This qualified Roma to play the Anglo-Italian League Cup, where they played Swindon Town who had beaten Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup. Capello played in both legs against Swindon, Roma winning 2–1 at home in the first leg but losing 4–0 in the second leg at The County Ground. He was then sold to Juventus, where he was a mainstay in the 1970s. Juventus were the dominant Italian team of the decade, and he won the Serie A three times with the club. Capello ended his career as player with Milan in 1980, having won his fourth Serie A with the club in 1979.^[1]

International career[link]

Capello also played thirty-two times for Italy; he is particularly remembered for a goal with which Italy beat England 1–0 at Wembley for the first time in its history (14 November 1973), which he himself regarded as the highlight of his playing career.^[2] Capello scored the lone goal for Italy against Poland during the 1974 FIFA World Cup though Italy lost the match 2–1 and failed to qualify for the second round of the competition.^[3] He was overlooked for the 1978 FIFA World Cup even after having good club form with Milan:^[4] the manager at that time, Enzo Bearzot, preferred other defensive-minded midfielders such as Marco Tardelli over the attacking minded Capello. After several years as a football pundit for Italian TV SPW and a brief spell as caretaker manager of AC Milan in 1987, he became a leading candidate to succeed Arrigo Sacchi as coach of the team, and he was formally appointed as manager of AC Milan in 1991.

Coaching career[link]

Before going into management, Fabio spent a couple of seasons from 1987 to 1989 being a coach with Italian side Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio and manager Emiliano Mondonico, a personal friend.

A student at Coverciano, in 1984 he penned a research article entitled "The Zonal Marking System".^[5]

While at Coverciano, Capello acted as general manager for a variety of sports, including baseball, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby union.^[6][7]

First spell at Milan[link]

His first experience as a head coach was leading Milan in the last six games of the 1986–87 Serie A season, replacing Nils Liedholm and achieving the UEFA Cup qualifications in a play-off with Sampdoria. However, the following season, Arrigo Sacchi became the new Rossoneri manager and Capello stepped aside, but still worked for the society.

Capello made his second and best remembered coaching experience in the early 1990s again with Milan, replacing Sacchi and leading a team including the likes of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Paolo Maldini, and Franco Baresi to four Serie A titles in five years with a team nicknamed "The Invincibles". Milan were at this time bankrolled by the vast wealth of the Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi. Under Capello, Milan remained unbeaten for 58 league games, between 19 May 1991 and 21 March 1993, which included an entire season in the league. They were finally defeated 1–0 by Parma after a goal from Faustino Asprilla.

With a style that spurned the traditional Italian stereotype of Catenaccio, in 1994 Milan routed the favourites FC Barcelona 4–0 to win the UEFA Champions League, earning them a reputation of one of the great sides of the modern era. Although Milan lost the Serie A title in 1995—finishing a disappointing fourth—Capello signed off from his six-year stint with the Rossoneri by regaining the league championship the following year. He was replaced by Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabárez who was sacked after only a few games.

By now, Capello had earned himself a reputation as one of Europe's leading coaches. He had also become known as a disciplinarian, unafraid of clamping down on his players, even his leading stars, if he felt they were not pulling their weight for the team.^{[citation needed]} Towards the end of his time at Milan, he had clashed with player Paolo Di Canio who was subsequently sold to Celtic

First spell at Real Madrid[link]

Capello was unveiled as the new Real Madrid coach. A major task was combining the attacking talents of Davor Šuker, Predrag Mijatović and Raúl in a single team, which Capello did by playing a three-man attack, in spite of his reputation for cautious and defensive football.^[8] He had a single season in charge of Real guiding the club to the Spanish league title in 1997. Real managed to edge out their bitter rivals FC Barcelona by just two points.

Despite his tenure with Los Merengues lasting only a year, he was credited^{[citation needed]} with bringing in a number of players such as Šuker, Mijatović, Roberto Carlos and Clarence Seedorf who helped the club establish their Champions League dominance over the next few years.

Second spell at Milan[link]

Despite a belief by the Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti that Capello had made a verbal agreement to coach his club, Capello instead returned to Milan for a brief and less successful spell.^[9]

Some of the previous squad had departed, and others such as Franco Baresi were coming to the end of their careers. The squad had to be extensively rebuilt, and many of the new signings did not gel. The team managed to win just 11 games all season, with a particular low occurring in March 1998 when they lost 4–1 to Juventus and Capello was sent off for protesting a decision by the referee. This was followed by a 5–0 defeat to Roma in May.^[10]

Milan finished the 1997–98 Serie A season in 10th place, 30 points behind the champions Juventus, by which time Capello had already departed the club. Some of the players suggested that Capello had instituted a more lax training regime than he had in his previous spell.^[11] A run in the Italian Cup ended when Milan were beaten in the final by Lazio 3–2 on aggregate, despite taking a 1–0 lead in the first leg. Capello took credit for Milan's title win the following season claiming, as he had rebuilt the side, that it was "my team".^[12]

Managing Roma[link]

Following his dismissal at Milan, Capello took a short break from coaching. He told a reporter that he "sat on a beach and thought about football". He also enjoyed a spell as a colour commentator for Italian television, participating in coverage of the Copa America 1999.^[13] In May 1999 he moved to Roma, the club he had first joined as a player thirty years before. His arrival was hailed by the Roma President, Franco Sensi, who said "Capello is a winner and I believe in him". Capello was joined by Franco Baldini who became the club's Sporting Director. Capello built his side around Marco Delvecchio, sometimes leaving Vincenzo Montella on the bench. Believing his squad lacked a world-class striker, Capello made a move to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the deal was wrecked following a serious injury. His first season saw Roma finish 6th, made particularly disappointing as cross-city rivals Lazio won the title, and they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Leeds United.^[14]

Capello's breakthrough at the club occurred when he won the 2001 Serie A, having signed Walter Samuel to strengthen his defence and Gabriel Batistuta as a goalscorer. Although the large fee for Batistuta was questioned, the Argentinian scored a number of vital goals. The season began in difficult fashion with Roma struggling for form and an angry fans protest at the club's Trigoria training complex which turned violent when players cars were attacked. Capello resisted calls for his resignation, and the team's results dramatically improved helped by the performances of the Brazilian midfielder Emerson. The title was sealed with a 3–0 victory over Parma at the Stadio Olimpico prompting a major pitch invasion by the Roma supporters.^[15] That was Roma's first major honour in a decade and only the third ever time they had been crowned Champions of Italy. Capello was praised for fielding Montella, a player he had had a bust-up with just days before, in the final match of the season.

Following the title win there was also a widespread belief that he had done a secret deal to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.^[16] Ferguson had announced his decision to retire, with Capello a leading candidate to replace him allegedly going so far as to meet with the Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards. Capello did little to dispel the rumours when he remarked "I like the spirit of English football and I would like to work in English football" adding that it was an honour to be pursued by the club. Capello's link with United eventually came to nothing after Ferguson abandoned his decision to retire and signed a new contract, with Martin Edwards claiming that United had been three or four days away from appointing a new manager, believed to be Capello, when Ferguson changed his mind.^[17]

The 2002 season developed into a battle between Roma and Juventus. After a heated encounter between the teams, Capello used an interview to criticise the Moggi family that ran Juventus, particularly their dealings with players agents. Capello signed a new contract in April 2002, worth £2.37m a season. The defence of the title was dealt a major blow when the club drew with bottom-placed Venezia, as Roma finished second in the table behind Juventus by a single point.^[18] The following season Roma failed to maintain a serious challenge, and finished in eighth. Their Champions League ambitions were also ended following a defeat and a draw against Arsenal which saw them finish bottom of their group. Once again it had been English opposition that had thwarted Roma in Europe. Roma lost the Italian Cup final to A.C Milan, with Capello particularly angered by supporters who waved banners calling on him to go. Capello's final year at Roma, began well with the team playing much better football. They went on a seven game winning streak before Christmas, including comfortable victories over Juventus and Inter Milan. This led to speculation linking him with Juventus, despite his past differences with Luciano Moggi. Capello believed he had taken Roma as far as he could, and began to seriously considered a move. In the run-in the club's form dipped and they ended up finishing eleven points behind champions A.C. Milan.^[19]

Juventus[link]

In 2004, Capello left debt-ridden Roma to sign with Juventus. His move came as a surprise, because he had kept it such a secret, and because he had been engaged in a war of words with the Moggi family^{[citation needed]}. One of Capello's first moves was to sign Emerson from Roma, further angering many of his critics who believed he had betrayed Roma.^[20] Capello's Juventus reached the quarterfinals of the 2004–05 and 2005-06 Champions Leagues before being eliminated by Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. Juventus also won the 2004–05 and 2005–06 Scudetti under Capello's leadership, but were later stripped off their trophies due to the team's involvement in the 2006 Serie A scandal.

In July 2006, with Juventus in the midst of the aforementioned scandal, Capello resigned as Juventus manager. Press reports strongly linked him with a move back to Real Madrid; new club president Ramón Calderón had publicly stated his hope that Capello would return for a second stint at the club and on 5 July 2006, the official Real Madrid website announced Capello's appointment.^[21]

Second spell at Real Madrid[link]

Capello during his second spell with Madrid

Capello arrived at a Real Madrid side suffering one of the longest spells without a trophy in their history. He quickly drew the disdain of Real's ardent supporters because of his defensive playing style. In interviews, Capello responded to those critics by saying that the beauty of attacking plays was old. He said that results were much more important than playing beautifully. He also added that "those days are over." His remit was to bring the title back to Madrid, a task that had been too much for five other coaches since 2003. In Spain, he was commonly referred to as "Don Fabio".^[22] At Real Madrid, Capello had several high-profile falling outs. He was criticised for not playing David Beckham because of his contract wranglings and Ronaldo, who struggled for fitness and form. Capello also feuded with his compatriot Antonio Cassano; the two had previously had disputes at Roma.

In March, Real were again eliminated early from the Champions League and were mired in fourth place in the league, six points behind FC Barcelona. On 20 February 2007, Real Madrid were forced to deny rumours that Capello would be leaving after that day's match.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the unrest, Capello recalled Beckham, whose return was pivotal for the team's recovery. A string of successful results in the latter half of the season took Real to the top of the table, while Barça's results became inconsistent. Real Madrid won their 30th league title on the final day of the season by beating RCD Mallorca 3–1 at home. The victory was achieved after Capello substituted an injured Beckham and brought on José Antonio Reyes. Real had been 1–0 down prior to the substitution and Reyes turned the match scoring two goals. Despite winning La Liga, Capello was sacked on 28 June 2007 due to Real's pragmatic style of play at a club with recent memories of the individualistic and free-flowing, but ultimately unsuccessful Galáctico era.^[23]

England[link]

Capello was formally appointed as manager of the England national football team on 14 December 2007.^[24] He commenced his day-to-day role on 7 January 2008, on a four-and-a-half year deal. It was estimated that his annual pay was £6 million.^[25] After being confirmed for the job, he announced it would be his last in football.^[26] Capello announced on the day of his unveiling that it was a dream come true to manage the England national team and that he hoped to learn the English language in the following month prior to his first official meeting with the players.^[27] Capello was welcomed by many English fans and the press who hailed his appointment as a triumph, citing in particular his impressive trophy haul and his reputation as a disciplinarian in contrast to the excessive leniency perceived to have existed under his two predecessors. In Italy, news of his appointment was greeted with a sense of pride that one of their countrymen had been selected to coach an elite European national team.^[28] His arrival also generated some criticism, notably from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who said, "I would say it is a little surprising that the motherland of football has ignored a sacrosanct law or belief that the national team manager should be from the same country as the players."^[29]

England's first match with Capello as manager was at Wembley against Switzerland on 6 February 2008. On 31 January 2008, it was confirmed that a number of senior players including Sol Campbell and Beckham had not been selected for Capello's debut squad. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson was also dropped after recent erratic form. Debut call-ups were handed to two players: Curtis Davies and Gabriel Agbonlahor, both of Aston Villa.^[30] Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips scored in England's 2–1 win at Wembley Stadium.^[31] England lost their second match under Capello, an international friendly against France. England lost the game 1–0 after a Franck Ribéry penalty.^[32] Capello's third game in charge was against the United States on 28 May 2008. England won the game 2–0 thanks to goals from John Terry and Steven Gerrard.^[33] On 1 June 2008, England beat Trinidad and Tobago 3–0.^[34] Capello had been rotating the captaincy around several senior players during his first few matches in charge. On 19 August 2008, he announced that John Terry would be named the permanent captain.^[35][36] On 20 August 2008, England drew 2–2 with the Czech Republic after goals from Wes Brown and Joe Cole.^[37]

World Cup Qualification[link]

England opened Capello's first competitive campaign with a 2–0 victory over Andorra, in Barcelona, on 6 September 2008.^[38] Four days later, on 10 September, England played Croatia, the team that had qualified for the previous competition (Euro 2008) at their expense. England won 4–1 with Theo Walcott scoring a hat-trick.^[39] The next qualification game was at Wembley just over a month later, on 11 October, against Kazakhstan. The game remained goalless at half-time, but England went on to win 5–1.^[40] A fourth straight win on 15 October made this England's best ever start to a World Cup qualifying campaign as they beat Belarus 3–1.^{[citation needed]} England rounded off 2008 by beating Germany 2–1 on 19 November. Goals from Terry and Matthew Upson secured the victory.^[41]

In the spring of 2009, England played two more friendlies, losing 2–0 to European champions Spain and beating Slovakia 4–0.^[42] In the summer of 2009 England played another friendly against the Netherlands, coming back from 2–0 down to secure a 2–2 draw away from home. Slovenia were beaten 2–1 In Wembley in the same year. England resumed their qualification campaign by beatingUkraine 2–1, on 1 April 2009, at Wembley. On 6 June, they travelled to Almaty and beat Kazakhstan 4–0, and four days later, they returned to Wembley and to beat Andorra again 6–0, making it seven wins out of seven in the qualification campaign.^[43] A notable feature of the campaign was the goalscoring form of Wayne Rooney: eight in seven games. With two in the friendly against Slovakia in March 2009, Rooney had scored ten goals in 8 England games. On 9 September 2009, Capello successfully guided England to qualification to the 2010 World Cup following a 5–1 win at home to Croatia.^[44] England's hopes of a 100% record in their 2010 qualifying campaign were ended with a 0-1 defeat in Ukraine in the final away match. However, a 3-0 victory over Belarus confirmed England as the top scorers in the UEFA zone with 34 goals, 6 ahead of second top scorers Spain.^{[citation needed]} In November 2009, England were beaten 1–0 by Brazil in Qatar, Capello's third defeat as England manager.^[45]

2010 World Cup[link]

In March 2010, England played a friendly against Egypt and beat the African champions 3–1. Two months later in the last home match before the World Cup they beat Mexico by the same scoreline. In May 2010, England played a friendly against Japan national football team Japan at UPC-Arena, Graz and won 2–1. The two goals conceded by Japan were both own goals by Marcus Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa.^[46] After constant speculation linking him with the vacant managerial post at Internazionale, on 2 June 2010 Capello committed himself to the England job until at least after the 2012 European Championships. England's build up to the World Cup started badly, with John Terry being stripped of the captaincy by Capello after his involvement in a tabloid scandal in February 2010. Terry's successor as captain, Rio Ferdinand, was injured in a training session prior to England's opening match, resulting in his withdrawal from the squad. England drew the first game 1–1 with the United States due to an error by goalkeeper Robert Green, after which Capello declared the tournament Adidas Jabulani ball was "impossible to control".^[47] This was followed by a poor display against Algeria leading to a 0–0 draw and widespread criticism of both Capello and the England team. On 23 June, Capello led England into the round of 16 of the World Cup after they beat Slovenia 1–0. However they were beaten in their first knockout match 4–1 by Germany. With Germany leading 2–1, Frank Lampard scored a 20-yard strike. However, while the ball bounced a yard over the German goal-line, the match officials failed to see it and award a goal. As England pressed forward in the second half, they conceded two counter-attack goals. Nevertheless, England's performance led to much criticism from fans, the media, and pundits alike. After England's elimination Capello was criticized for imposing a strict military regime at England's Bloemfontein training camp^[48] and not allowing his senior players to have tactical input.^[49] His 4-4-2 formation was derided as "outdated"^[50] with Steven Gerrard's positioning on the left of midfield also criticized.^[51] Capello's squad selection was questioned, with the selection of an unfit Ledley King and out of form Emile Heskey, as well as the surprising omission of Theo Walcott also coming under fire.^[52] Capello's indecision over his starting goalkeeper was cited as a reason for Robert Green's error in England's opening match with the United States.^[53] On 2 July 2010, the Football Association announced that Capello would remain as the manager of the England national team following speculation over his future following the World Cup 2010.^[54]

Qualifying for Euro 2012[link]

England kicked off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with two wins, 4–0 against Bulgaria and 3–1 away against Switzerland, yet could only draw 0–0 against group leaders Montenegro at Wembley. Capello made some changes afterwards, with Ferdinand and Gerrard out of the picture. John Terry was reinstated as captain to much criticism.^[55][56] The traditional 4–4–2 was transformed to 4–3–3 with Darren Bent as centre forward and Rooney as a left-sided forward. The result has been successful thus far, as England beat Wales 2–0 at the Millennium Stadium on 26 March 2011. England's next game was at Wembley against Switzerland on 4 June 2011, which they recovered from a 0–2 deficit to draw 2–2 with goals from Frank Lampard and Ashley Young. After a narrow 1–0 win against Wales at Wembley Capello claimed that several England players were "mentally fragile" and suggested he intended to reinvent his squad once Euro 2012 qualification had been sealed.^[57] On 7 October 2011, England qualified for the European Championships with a 2–2 draw in Montenegro. England completed their campaign with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws and no defeats. England completed an unbeaten 2011 with 1–0 friendly victories over Spain and Sweden in November 2011.^[58][59]

Capello resigned on 8 February 2012, following the FA removing the captaincy from John Terry.^[60]

Career statistics[link]

Player[link]