Fabio Capello

Capello was signed by Paolo Mazza, the President of SPAL, for the fee of two million lire despite interest from Milan. In his second season in the youth team, he helped the club win the Italian Youth Championship and made his first-team debut in a 3–1 away defeat against Sampdoria in Serie A on 29 March 1964. A talented and tactically intelligent holding midfielder, with a good positional sense, he could read the play well and was strong both in the air and in the tackle, in spite of his lack of notable height and unorthodox physique. He usually operated as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, however, due to his outstanding technique and vision, which enabled him to orchestrate his team's attacking moves or create chances for teammates, and furthermore was an excellent passer of the ball with both feet. Going forward he was also equally effective, and possessed an eye for goal from midfield, due to his powerful and accurate shot, as well as his ability at penalty kicks, but he lacked pace, and was notorious for not being particularly hard-working. With SPAL, he made four appearances for a struggling side that was relegated from Serie A. 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 alongside teammate Edoardo Reja despite still being a teenager. However, injury to his left knee restricted him to…

Capello played 32 times for Italy between 1972 and 1978, scoring 8 goals; he made his international debut on 13 May 1972, in a 2–1 defeat to Belgium. He is particularly remembered for a goal with which Italy beat England 1–0 at Wembley Stadium for the first time in its history (14 November 1973), which he himself regarded as the highlight of his playing career. Capello scored the lone goal for Italy against Poland during the 1974 World Cup, though Italy lost the match 2–1 and failed to qualify for the second round of the competition. He was overlooked for the 1978 World Cup even after having good club form with Milan: the manager at that time, Enzo Bearzot, preferred other defensive-minded midfielders such as Marco Tardelli over the more attacking minded Capello.

Regarded as one of the most influential Italian players of his generation, Capello was a tactically intelligent holding midfielder, with a positional sense and intuition.He usually played in the centre of the pitch, however, where he operated as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, due to his technique and vision, which enabled him to orchestrate his team's attacking moves or create chances for teammates, and was a passer of the ball with both feet. In spite of his playing role, he was an offensive-minded midfielder. Indeed, going forward he was also equally effective as he was creatively and defensively, and possessed an eye for goal from midfield, due to his powerful and accurate shot, as well as his ability at penalty kicks. His offensive movement and ability to make late runs into the area from behind also made him an offensive threat, but at the same time he lacked pace, and was notorious for not being particularly hard-working.

Early years

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 1980s. Capello coached training sessions with Clyde at Shawfield in Glasgow and took charge of the Scotland youth team training in Paisley. Before going into management, Capello spent the early 1980s coaching the Milan youth teams. Bringing through talent such as Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, he led the under-19s to numerous youth tournament successes. He completed the last of his coaching badges in 1986. He was promoted to first team coach in 1987, and worked as Nils Liedholm's assistant. 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". While at Coverciano, Capello acted as general manager for a variety of sports, including baseball, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby union. After standing aside as manager, he was sent by Berlusconi on high-level business courses.

First spell at Milan

Capello replaced Sacchi as Milan manager in June 1991, and was a controversial appointment as he was seen as a Berlusconi…