Fabio Capello Wanted by Inter Milan
Jose Mourinho’s imminent transfer to Real Madrid has pushed Inter Milan to find his replacement. They are targeting England’s head coach Fabio Capello to take charge of their team after the World Cup and are even ready to compensate the FA for his remaining period of the contract. We, therefore, need to analyse why he is so attractive to Inter Milan who have recently completed a treble of UEFA Champions League, Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Inter is the only “Big Four” club of the Italian League which Capello has never worked with at any point in his career. He has been a part of AC Milan, Juventus and AS Roma both as a player and as a coach. After starting his playing career in the struggling SPAL in 1964, he caught many eyes with his skilful midfield displays. Roma lured him from SPAL in 1967, and then after three seasons Juventus brought him in their team and established the most dominant league side of 70s. He played a key role in winning three Scudetti during his stay at the club. Capello moved to AC Milan in 1976 but retired in 1980 at the age of 34 due to recurring knee injuries. He won four Serie A titles in his playing career (fourth with AC Milan) and two Coppa Italia (one each with Roma and Milan). He won thirty-two caps for the national team. He was scorer of the famous and the only goal of a match at Wembley in 1973 which resulted in England’s first ever defeat in this prestigious stadium.
Capello started his managerial career with a short spell at AC Milan as a caretaker manager. Remarkably, he has guided every club he managed to league title and won an astounding nine league titles in the sixteen seasons he managed the league teams. His first role as full-time coach was with AC Milan, starting in 1991. He managed one of the greatest teams in league football to four Serie A titles in five years and a UEFA Champions League title in 1994, which was sandwiched between the two unsuccessful Champions League final appearances. With his technical knowledge of the game, Milan went on a streak of 58 undefeated games which included the whole 1991-92 season of “The Invincibles”.
He joined Real Madrid in 1996 where he won Primera División in his only season there. He returned to Milan in 1997 for an unsuccessful season in which the team finished at tenth position in Serie A. Capello joined Roma in 1999, and in 2001 lead them to their third Scudetto and first in eighteen years.
Capello joined Juventus in 2004 and won Serie A titles in both the seasons there, although both these titles were later revoked due to the infamous match-fixing scandal which also saw them spend 2006-07 season relegated to Serie B, the second division of the Italian league.
He moved back to Real Madrid in 2006, who were without a league title since 2003 and had sacked five managers during this time. In his unveiling at the club he made it clear that he had arrived for winning the title and not for showing off the attacking skills of the players. He won the league title on the last day of the season but was sacked by the club citing his emphasis on defensive side of the game whereas the boardroom was more interested in the “Galácticos” they had brought in.
Capello was appointed head coach of the English national team in the beginning of 2008 when he announced that this would be his last assignment before retirement. England had failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and were low in morale. Capello guided them to an early qualification for the 2010 World Cup and the team remained unbeaten throughout the qualifiers. He has recently extended his contract with the FA till end of the 2011-12 season, but it remains to be seen if the team’s performance in the 2010 World Cup can persuade Capello to stay as their coach till Euro 2012 at least.
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