Fabio Capello

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Fabio Capello
Personal information
Date of birth	June 18, 1946 (age 60)
Place of birth	San Canzian d'Isonzo, Italy
Nickname	Don Fabio
Playing position	Manager
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1964-67 1967-69 1969-76 1976-79	SPAL A.S. Roma Juventus A.C. Milan	? (?) ? (?) 239 (41) ? (?)
National team
1972-76	Italy	32 (8)
Teams managed
1991-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1999-2004 2004-2006 2006-current	A.C. Milan Real Madrid A.C. Milan A.S. Roma Juventus Real Madrid
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Fabio Capello (born June 18, 1946 in San Canzian d'Isonzo, Gorizia) is an Italian football manager and former professional player who is currently the coach of Real Madrid.

Regarded as one of the best coaches in professional football, he has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every team he has managed, with A.C. Milan, Real Madrid, A.S. Roma and Juventus (but later stripped due to match-fixing). Capello is one of the few coaches to claim championship victories in four major European cities (Milan, Madrid, Rome and Turin).

Despite his coaching success, Capello is often an unpopular figure with fans of his former clubs in Italy; notably because of his public feuds with Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero, amid accusations that Capello sabotaged their clubs before his departure. Currently at Real Madrid, he was criticized for not playing David Beckham and Ronaldo, leading Beckham to end contract extensions with the club and sign with LA Galaxy instead, while Ronaldo bought out the remainder of his contract to move to A.C. Milan.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Managerial career 3 Honors as coach 4 External links

[edit] Playing career

Capello first played for SPAL, making his debut in 1964. Three seasons later he moved to A.S. Roma, where he won his first trophy, the Italian Cup. Then he was sold to Juventus, where he was a mainstay in 1970s. He also played for the Italian national team; he is particularly remembered for a goal with which Italy beat England at Wembley for the first time in its history. Capello ended his career as player with A.C. Milan in 1980.

[edit] Managerial career

Capello made his name as coach in the early 1990s at Milan, leading a team including the likes of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi to four Serie A titles in five years with a team nicknamed "the invincibles". Under Capello, Milan remained unbeaten for 58 league games between May 19, 1991 and March 21, 1993, which included an entire season where they were unbeaten in the league. They were finally defeated at home to Parma after a goal from Faustino Asprilla.

With a style that spurned the traditional Italian caution of catenaccio, in 1994 Milan routed FC Barcelona 4-0 to win the European Cup. Although Milan surrendered 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 then had a single season in charge of Real Madrid, guiding the club to the Spanish league title, before returning to A.C. Milan for a shorter and less successful spell.

He moved to A.S. Roma in 1999, winning the 2001 Scudetto. That was Roma's first major honour in a decade. However, his relationship with fans was soured when he was involved into a feud with popular Roma captain Francesco Totti. The final years of his tenure were also marred by accusations that he engineered the departure of several key players to sabotage to club, which led to the team plummeting near the bottom of Serie A and almost being relegated. Capello is reviled by Roma fans up to this day.

Capello left the debt-ridden Roma to sign with Juventus F.C., where he had played as a midfielder. Juventus won the 2004-05 and 2005-06 'Scudetto' under Capello's leadership, but were later stripped of their trophies due to involvement in the Italian match-fixing scandal.

In July 2006, with Juventus in the midst of the aforementioned match-fixing scandal, Capello resigned as Juventus manager. Press reports strongly linked him with a move back to Real Madrid; new club president Ramon Calderon had publicly stated his desire for Capello's return to the club. On July 5, 2006, the official Real Madrid website announced the incorporation on Fabio Capello 1. Capello was criticized by Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero, as Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson also left for Real Madrid.

Capello has quickly drawn the disdain of Real Madrid's ardent supporters because of his defensive playing style. In interviews, Capello attacked those critics by saying that the beauty of attacking plays are old. He said that results are much more important than playing beautifully. He also added that "those days are over".

At Real Madrid, Capello had another high key falling out. This time with hotly tipped young star, and fellow country man Antonio Cassano, the two had disputes in the past while at AS Roma. Capello had not played Cassano for over a month at Real Madrid and the young striker reportedly shouted out at him "Have you got no shame? I fought for you in Rome and this is how you repay me". This led to the young Italian being suspended by the club.^[1]

Capello was heckled by fans during the weeks that he benched David Beckham, after Beckham's signing in January to the LA Galaxy. It was widely speculated - when Capello finally did allow Beckham to play and he scored a goal for the struggling club - that this move actually may have saved the head coach's job. On Tuesday, 20 February, Real Madrid was forced to deny rumors that Capello would be leaving after that day's match.

[edit] Honors as coach

• Scudetto: 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96 (A.C Milan); 2000/01 (AS Roma)
• La Liga: 1996/97 (Real Madrid)
• UEFA Champions League: 1994 (A.C Milan)
• Italian Super Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994 (A.C Milan) 2001 (AS Roma)
• European Super Cup: 1994 (A.C Milan)

[edit] External links

• Fabio Capello management career stats at Soccerbase
• Real Madrid denies Capello departure rumors

Preceded by Carlo Ancelotti	Serie A Coach of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Luciano Spalletti
Preceded by Raymond Goethals	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 1993-94	Succeeded by Louis van Gaal

	Italy squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup
1 Zoff | 2 Spinosi | 3 Facchetti | 4 Benetti | 5 Morini | 6 Burgnich | 7 Mazzola | 8 Capello | 9 Chinaglia | 10 Rivera | 11 Riva | 12 Albertosi | 13 Sabadini | 14 Bellugi | 15 Wilson | 16 Juliano | 17 Re Cecconi | 18 Causio | 19 Anastasi | 20 Boninsegna | 21 Pulici | 22 Castellini | Coach: Valcareggi

Real Madrid - Current Squad
1 Casillas | 2 Salgado | 3 Roberto Carlos | 4 Ramos | 5 Cannavaro | 6 Diarra | 7 Raúl | 8 Emerson | 10 Robinho | 11 Cicinho | 12 Marcelo | 13 López | 14 Guti | 15 Bravo | 16 Gago | 17 van Nistelrooy | 18 Cassano | 19 Reyes | 20 Higuaín | 21 Helguera | 22 Pavón | 23 Beckham | 24 Mejía | 25 Miñambres | 26 Javi García | 27 De la Red | 36 Nieto | 38 Torres | 39 Valero | Coach Capello