Fabio Capello

As a guest of the SFA, Capello began coaching on a three week visit to Scotland. He worked with Craig Brown and Andy Roxburgh in the early 1980's. Capello coached training sessions with Clyde at Shawfield in Glasgow and took charge of the Scotland youth team training in Paisley.[30]

Before going into management, Capello spent the early 1980s coaching the Milan youth teams.[31] Bringing through talent such as Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, he led the under-19s to numerous youth tournament successes.[32] He completed the last of his coaching badges in 1986.[33] He was promoted to first team coach in 1987, and worked as Nils Liedholm's assistant.[34] His first experience as a head coach was leading Milan in the last six games of the 1986–87 season, replacing Liedholm and achieving UEFA Cup qualifications in a play-off with Sampdoria. The following season, however, Silvio Berlusconi hired Arrigo Sacchi as the new Rossoneri manager and Capello stepped aside, but still worked for the club.

A student at Coverciano, in 1984 he penned a research article entitled "The Zonal Marking System".[35] While at Coverciano, Capello acted as general manager for a variety of sports, including baseball, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby union.[36][37] After standing aside as manager, Berlusconi sent him on high-level business courses.[38]

Capello replaced Sacchi as Milan manager in June 1991, and was a controversial appointment as he was seen as a Berlusconi "yes-man" compared to the demanding (both on the club's finances and on his players) but highly successful Sacchi.[39] Capello largely retained the players and tactical systems put in place by Sacchi, though he replaced ageing central midfielder Carlo Ancelotti with a young Demetrio Albertini and signed goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi.[40] Allowing for more creative freedom from his attackers, Milan won the Serie A title undefeated in 1991–92.[41]

He spent around £15 million on winger Gianluigi Lentini, breaking the world football transfer record.[42] He also signed Fernando De Napoli, Stefano Eranio, Jean-Pierre Papin, Dejan Savićević and Zvonimir Boban.[43] Already boasting talent such as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Paolo Maldini and Frank Rijkaard, Capello was one of the first managers to introduce a squad rotation approach.[44] He played Rijkaard and Albertini as deep-lying central midfielders, allowing his wingers more license to attack.[45] Milan dominated the league in the 1992–93 season, defending the Serie A title,[46] and reached the 1993 UEFA Champions League final, losing to 1–0 Marseille.[47] Milan remained unbeaten for 58 league games, between 19 May 1991 and 21 March 1993, which included an entire season in the league, a record in Italian football. They were finally defeated 1–0 by Parma after a goal from Faustino Asprilla.[48][49]

Building for the 1993–94 season, Capello signed Christian Panucci, Brian Laudrup, Florin Răducioiu and Marcel Desailly.[50] Playing the former defender Desailly as a holding midfielder allowed the rest of the midfield to push on and attack.[51] His side lost 3–2 to São Paulo in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, but defended the Serie A title, the club's third consecutive Scudetto,[52] and won the 1994 Champions League final with a 4–0 victory over Johan Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team".[53][54] Due to injuries endured by several of the club's attacking stars, in particular Van Basten, Milan only scored 36 goals in 34 games in the league that season, but finished with the best defence in Italy, conceding just 15 goals.[55] The club's back four at the time, primarily made up by Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini, is regarded as one of the greatest defences of all time;[lower-alpha 1] the club's defensive strength under Capello helped Milan's goalkeeper Rossi achieve the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history during the 1993–94 season: in an 11-match span, from 12 December 1993 to 27 February 1994, Milan's defence went unbeaten for 929 consecutive minutes.[65] The record was broken by Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon during the 2015–16 season.[66]

With Van Basten and Papin gone, Capello recalled Ruud Gullit from Sampdoria and signed winger Paolo Di Canio as Milan struggled at the start of the 1994–95 season, losing in the 1994 Intercontinental Cup to Vélez Sársfield.[67] However, they beat Arsenal in the 1994 European Super Cup,[68] and reached their third consecutive Champions League final in 1995, where they were defeated by Ajax.[69] They finished the league campaign in fourth place, however, failing to qualify for the Champions League the following season.

Building for the 1995–96 season, Milan signed strikers George Weah and Roberto Baggio, as well as winger Paulo Futre; this created a selection problem as Capello already had several forwards and wingers in his squad, including Di Canio, Lentini, Savićević, Eranio, Roberto Donadoni and Marco Simone.[70] Capello, however, was once again able to implement a squad rotation policy successfully, and even modified Milan's 4–4–2 formation at times, introducing an attacking trident in which the lone striker Weah was supported by Baggio and Savićević, thus allowing the two playmakers to play alongside each other.[71] That season, Milan won the league title by an eight-point margin.[72]

Capello was unveiled as the new Real Madrid coach in 1996. 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.[73] A simple but effective tactic would be the long ball from defender Fernando Hierro to a sprinting Roberto Carlos, who would be supported on the left by Mijatović and Raúl; Roberto Carlos would then have the option of either going to goal or passing to Šuker, Mijatović or Raúl.[74] 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 Barcelona by just two points. Despite his tenure with Los Merengues lasting only a year, he was credited 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.[75] Despite his success, he fell out with chairman Lorenzo Sanz and was not popular with fans or the Spanish press for "demoting" Raúl to the left-wing.[76]

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.[77] 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 high quality signings such as Patrick Kluivert, Leonardo, Winston Bogarde, Christian Ziege, André Cruz and Ibrahim Ba 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.[78] Milan finished the 1997–98 Serie A season in tenth 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.[79] A run in the Coppa Italia 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".[80]

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 1999 Copa América.[81] In May 1999, he moved to Roma, the club he had first joined as a player 30 years prior. His arrival was hailed by Roma president Franco Sensi, who said, "Capello is a winner and I believe in him."[82] 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 sixth, made particularly disappointing as cross-city rivals Lazio won the title, and they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Leeds United.[83]

Capello's breakthrough at the club occurred when he won the 2000–01 Serie A title, having signed Walter Samuel to strengthen his defence, and Gabriel Batistuta as a main goalscorer. Although the large fee for Batistuta was initially questioned, the Argentine striker scored a number of vital goals. With Roma, Capello switched from his trademark 4–4–2 to an aggressive 3–4–1–2 formation, which allowed the club's star playmaker and captain Francesco Totti to function in his preferred role as an attacking midfielder, while Cafu and Vincent Candela served as attack-minded wing-backs on the flanks.[46][84][85] 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 3–1 victory over Parma at the Stadio Olimpico on 17 June, prompting a major pitch invasion by the Roma supporters.[86] 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; Montella, along with Totti and Batisuta went on to score in the title-deciding victory.[87]

That was Roma's first major honour in a decade and only the third time ever that they had been crowned champions of Italy. 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.[88] 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.[89] The 2001–02 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 £2.37 million a season. One of the highlights of the season was a 5–1 win over rivals Lazio which saw Vincenzo Montella score four goals. The defence of the title, however, 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.[90] 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 Coppa Italia final to 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 Internazionale. 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 11 points behind champions Milan.[91]

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. One of Capello's first moves was to sign Emerson from Roma, further angering many of his critics who believed he had betrayed Roma.[92] Capello's Juventus reached the quarter-finals 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.[93]

Capello during his second spell at Spanish side Real Madrid in 2007

In 2006, Capello arrived in Madrid to a Real 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".[94] 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.[46]

In March, Real were again eliminated early from the Champions League and were mired in fourth place in the league, six points behind Barcelona. On 20 February 2007, Real Madrid were forced to deny rumours that Capello would be leaving after that day's match. 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 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, Galácticos era.[95]

Fabio Capello as coach of the English national team in 2009

Capello was formally appointed as manager of the England national team on 14 December 2007.[96] He began his day-to-day role on 7 January 2008 on a four-and-a-half-year deal. His annual pay was claimed to be £6 million.[97] After being confirmed for the job, he announced it would be his last in football.[98] 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.[99]

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.[100] His arrival also generated some criticism, notably from then 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."[101]

England's first match with Capello as manager was at Wembley Stadium against Switzerland on 6 February 2008. On 31 January 2008, it was confirmed that a number of senior players including Sol Campbell and David 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.[102] Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips scored in England's 2–1 win at Wembley.[103] England lost their second match under Capello, an international friendly against France. England lost the game 1–0 after a Franck Ribéry penalty.[104]

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.[105] On 1 June 2008, England beat Trinidad and Tobago 3–0.[106] 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.[107][108] On 20 August 2008, England drew 2–2 with the Czech Republic after goals from Wes Brown and Joe Cole.[109]

England opened Capello's first competitive campaign with a 2–0 victory over Andorra, in Barcelona, on 6 September 2008.[110] Four days later, on 10 September, England played Croatia, the team that had qualified for the previous competition at their expense. England won 4–1 with Theo Walcott scoring a hat-trick.[111] 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.[112] 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. England rounded off 2008 by beating Germany 2–1 on 19 November. Goals from Terry and Matthew Upson secured the victory.[113]

In the spring of 2009, England fell to a 2–0 defeat against reigning European champions Spain and beating Slovakia 4–0.[114] 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 beating Ukraine 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.[115] 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 eight 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.[116] 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. In November 2009, England were beaten 1–0 by Brazil in Qatar, Capello's third defeat as England manager.[117]

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 at UPC-Arena, Graz, and won 2–1. The two goals conceded by Japan were both own goals by Marcus Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa.[118] 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 Euro 2012. 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".[119] 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, even though the ball clearly bounced a full yard over the German goal-line, all the match officials failed to see it and did not 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,[120] and not allowing his senior players to have tactical input.[121] His 4–4–2 formation was derided as "outdated"[122] with Steven Gerrard's positioning on the left of midfield also criticized.[123]

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.[124] Capello's indecision over his starting goalkeeper was cited as a reason for Robert Green's error in England's opening match with the U.S.[125] On 2 July 2010, The Football Association (FA) announced that Capello would remain as the manager of the England national team following speculation over his future following the World Cup.[126]

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.[127][128] 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 was successful, 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.[129] 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 five wins, three draws and no defeats. England completed an unbeaten 2011 with 1–0 friendly victories over Spain and Sweden in November 2011.[130][131] Capello resigned on 8 February 2012 following the FA's removal of the captaincy from John Terry.[132]

On 26 July 2012, Capello became manager of the Russia national team,[133] following the resignation of Dick Advocaat. His first game in charge was a 1–1 draw with Ivory Coast. Capello's first competitive game in charge of Russia was the opening match of the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign, a 2–0 victory at home to Northern Ireland.[134] He led Russia into the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification finals, finishing first in Group F. In January 2014, Capello committed his future to the Russia national team until the end of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[135]

At the 2014 World Cup, Russia were knocked out at the group stage, finishing third after a 1–1 draw against Algeria in their final match.[136] During qualifying for UEFA Euro 2016, Capello had six games as the head coach of Russia with results: two wins, two draws and two losses. On 14 June 2015, Russia lost 1–0 to Austria. Thereafter, on 14 July 2015, Capello was sacked as Russian manager.[137]

On 11 June 2017, Capello signed a contract with Chinese club Jiangsu Suning.[138] The club finished as the 12th (out of 16 teams) in 2017 Chinese Super League. On 28 March 2018, Capello was sacked.[139] In April, later that year, he officially announced that he had retired from coaching.[140]

[161]

As of 14 March 2018[162]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Milan (caretaker)		5 April 1987	3 July 1987	7	3	3	1	7	3	+4	042.86
Milan		20 June 1991	31 May 1996	249	142	77	30	410	169	+241	057.03
Real Madrid		31 May 1996	23 June 1997	48	31	12	5	96	41	+55	064.58
Milan		24 June 1997	20 May 1998	44	16	14	14	53	52	+1	036.36
Roma		6 June 1999	28 May 2004	241	118	73	50	402	222	+180	048.96
Juventus		28 May 2004	4 July 2006	105	68	24	13	181	81	+100	064.76
Real Madrid		6 July 2006	28 June 2007	50	28	12	10	91	55	+36	056.00
England		14 December 2007	8 February 2012	42	28	8	6	89	35	+54	066.67
Russia		16 July 2012	13 July 2015	33	17	11	5	56	22	+34	051.52
Jiangsu Suning		11 June 2017	28 March 2018	24	8	7	9	36	34	+2	033.33
Total				843	459	241	143	1,421	714	+707	054.45

SPAL[29]

• Serie B promotion: 1964–65

Roma[29]

• Coppa Italia (1): 1968–69

Juventus[29]

• Serie A (3): 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75

Milan[29]

• Serie A (1): 1978–79
• Coppa Italia (1): 1976–77

Milan[163]

• Serie A (4): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96
• Supercoppa Italiana (3): 1992, 1993, 1994
• UEFA Champions League (1): 1993–94
• European Super Cup (1): 1994

Real Madrid[163]

• La Liga (2): 1996–97, 2006–07

Roma[163]

• Serie A (1): 2000–01
• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2001

Juventus[163]

• Serie A (2): 2004–05 (Revoked), 2005–06 (Revoked)

• Panchina d'Oro: 1991–92, 1993–94, 1997, 2000–01[164]
• Serie A Coach of the Year: 2005[165]
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award: 2009[166]
• Marca Leyenda: 2011[167]
• Gran Galà del Calcio Critics' Award: 2011[168]
• European Coach of the Year—Sepp Herberger Award: 1994
• European Coach of the Season: 1993–94
• Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2013[169]
• ESPN 20th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013[170]
• France Football 21st Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019[171][172]
• World Soccer 24th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013[173][174]
• AIAC Football Leader Career Award: 2016[175]
• A.C. Milan Hall of Fame[176]