Fabio Capello is an Italian football manager, as well as a former professional player. He was recently named as the next coach of England’s national team on December 14, 2007.

Capello was born in Pieris, Italy, in 1946, and made his professional football debut as a midfielder in 1964 with SPAL, where he spent three seasons before moving to Roma, where he won the Italian Cup. He was later sold to Juventus, where he played during the 1970’s. He also played for Italy, and achieved notoriety by scoring a goal for Italy in 1973 to help defeat England at Wembley for the first time ever. He ended his playing career in 1980 with AC Milan.

Capello made his name as a football coach beginning in the early 1990’s, and has won the domestic league title with every team he has managed in his career, including Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus. He has claimed championship victories in 4 major cities – Milan, Madrid, Rome and Turin – and has led his team to a major league championship in 7 of the 16 seasons in which he has coached. He also once led AC Milan on a run of 58 straight matches without a loss.

As a coach, his teams are known for playing very strong defensively, which often leads to wins but is not always popular with the fans due to the less exciting style of play. He often becomes a target for fans of former clubs because of public disputes with players, or for not playing certain popular individuals. He has also been accused of privately convincing players to leave with him once he moves to another team. In his most recent appointment at Real Madrid, he was a controversial figure for his clashes with David Beckham and Ronaldo. Despite his success at turning Real Madrid into an elite team, he was fired at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

Fabio Capello is somewhat of a disciplinarian, who prefers players who respect the coach and have the right mental focus over playboys and controversial figures. He generally plays a variation of the 4-4-2 formation, but is willing to adapt depending on the talent available as well as the competition, and demands the highest level of physical fitness from his players.

Capello has been married for over 40 years, and is an art buff with a collection valued at arond £10million. His son, Pier Filippo, is a lawyer who also acts as his agent.

His next coaching challenge, which he recently announced will be his last, will be to help England’s national team recover from several recent disappointing showings, in order to quality for and achieve success in the 2010 World Cup. He has suggested that the players have a “mental block” due to the pressure of playing for England, and in his new role, psychology will play as big a role as tactics or technique.

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