Capello - the wizard of Wembley

On November 14, 1973, Wembley witnessed the end of an era with Bobby Moore's 108th and final game for his country. It was a 1-0 defeat in a friendly at

the hands of Italy, another bleak moment for England just a few weeks after failing to reach the World Cup finals for the first time.

But as the Italians celebrated

their first ever win on English soil a

different story was taking root, one

which is now reverberating around

the country, 34 years later.

Fabio Capello still cherishes the

memory of his Wembley winner, the

only goal of the game, turned in

from a cross by Giorgio Chinaglia

three minutes from time. Although

he had scored against England in

his country's 2-0 victory in Turin

five months earlier, it was that goal

at Wembley which helped nourish

his affection for English football and

inspired his determination to

manage a national team.

This, at least, is the popular version

of events now being peddled by the

only man who seems truly to want

the job, something which gives him

an automatic head start on the rest.

He has been at pains to stress

what a 'beautiful challenge' the

England job would present and

that, at 61, he is the right age to

move into the (semi-retired) world

of international management.

The Capello c.v. itself is a powerful

dossier. A league title with each of

the four clubs he has managed

leaps from the page and hits you

between the eyes, even if Juventus

were later stripped of the honour

after Italy's match-fixing scandal.

He won four titles in five years

with an AC Milan team built around

Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and

Frank Rijkaard and those who

accuse him of boring football

might do well to recall Milan's 4-0

destruction of Barcelona in the 1994

European Cup Final.

The free-flowing football of

Gullit and Co was a long time

ago. He has since infuriated

the purists at Real Madrid

with his style of play. Two Primera

Liga titles, 10 years apart, in two

single-season spells with Real have

not been enough to earn him a

place in the hearts of their fans.

As a player, he worked under

Helenio Herrera, the founding father

of the ultra-cautious catenaccio

style at Roma, and there has been

evidence of a low-risk strategy at the

teams he has built more recently.

Capello will not shirk confrontation.

If there is a tough call to make

he will make it, even if that means

upsetting one of England's millionaire

superstars.

He has feuded with a who's who of

European football in his own

strong and silent manner and, again, this will work in his favour.

The FA will see him as the man to

deconstruct the celebrity status of

England's poster boys and remind

the nation's so-called 'golden

generation' that they must win

before they can strut.

At Roma, he fell out with the

darling of the fans, Francesco Totti,

after winning the club's first title

in 18 years. Totti labelled him a

'traitor' when Capello moved

suddenly to Juventus in 2004,

taking key players with him.

Capello left Turin for Madrid in

2006 as Juve were relegated after

the match-fixing scandal, amid

complaints that he was too quick to

cut and run and that he had

unsettled Emerson and Fabio

Cannavaro before taking them with

him to the Spanish capital.

Those players who commit to his

methods enjoy the fruits of success,

including David Beckham, the only

Englishman to play for Capello and

one of the few individuals to ever

force a climbdown from him.

Beckham, of course, was cast

aside by Capello after deciding to

commit his future to LA Galaxy but

knuckled down and forced his way

back into the Real Madrid team as

they pipped Barcelona for the title

on the last day of the season.

Capello is not a man for sentiment

but he has been impressed by

Beckham's attitude and may

represent the player's best chance

of adding the one game he needs to

reach the 100-cap milestone.

Whether he passes Moore's 108 is

another question. Perhaps the

emotion of Wembley '73 will

persuade Capello. But perhaps he

will not recognise the old place if he

is back in north London in charge

of England for the friendly against

Switzerland in February.

THE CAPELLO CV

PLAYING CAREER

CLUBS — SPAL 1964-67; Roma 1967-69;

Juventus 1969-76; AC Milan 1976-79.

INTERNATIONAL — won 32 caps, scoring

eight goals, including one in 2-0 win

against England in Turin on June 14,

1973, Italy's first victory against

England. Also scored only goal as Italy

won at Wembley on November 14, 1973.

MANAGERIAL CAREER

AC MILAN (1991-96) — Four league titles

in five years. Also led club to Champions

League title courtesy of 4-0

destruction of Barcelona.

REAL MADRID (1996-97) — Beat

Barcelona by two points to win the

league. Despite that, sacked after one

season.

AC MILAN (1997-98) — Returned to the

San Siro but could steer Milan to only

10th place.

ROMA (1999-2004) — Won his fifth Italian

title in 2001. Second in 2002 and 2004.

Runner-up in 2003 Italian Cup, losing to

Milan.

JUVENTUS (2004-06) — Led Juve to

back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006

before the match-fixing scandal saw

them stripped of their crowns and

relegated.

REAL MADRID (2006-07) — Back to

Madrid after resigning at Juve. Falls out

with David Beckham after dropping

him but later reinstates England

midfielder. Wins second Spanish title,

but again sacked after one season.