Fabio Capello announced he’ll retire from coaching after the 2018 World Cup. The 67-year-old’s contract with the Russian National Team will expire after the World Cup, which will be hosted by said country.
At that point, Capello would be 71 years old and should go down as one of the greatest coaches of all-time.
No matter where Capello has gone, he’s had success, even with England. In his four years coaching the national team, he had one of the highest winning percentages in history.
Despite a solid 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, where the Three Lions won nine of their 10 games, they were ultimately eliminated by Germany in the round of 16 in the Finals.
As for his club career, it was a lot smoother and Capello was able to win trophies in some pressured environments. At AC Milan, his side won three consecutive Scudetti (four overall) in the early nineties and a European Cup in 1993/94.
At Real Madrid, the Italian won La Liga in his first campaign there.
Upon his return to Italy with Roma, the Giallorossi claimed their third Scudetto in the club’s history in 2000/01 and the first in 18 years. Then there was the infamous Juventus reign when the Bianconeri were indicted for the Calciopoli scandal, resulting in both Scudetti from 2005 and 2006 being revoked.
Regardless of whether or not there were any false implications, Capello set a club record with 91 points in 2005/06, which still stands today.
It’s not just the accolades that Capello has won that makes him a great coach, it’s how he’s transitioned his style over the years, never falling behind with the times. His Milan team led Serie A in goals in two of the five seasons he was there and apart from one campaign, were usually near the top in goals for.
Despite that, many thought that Capello was a defensive minded coach when he got the Real Madrid job. He quickly proved all of those critics wrong by taking the Galacticos’ three best attackers (Davor Suker, Predrag Mijatovic, Raul) and turned the club into one of the most entertaining to watch.
Upon moving to Roma, Capello brought a combination of defensive organization and attacking prowess. La Maggica had the second best back line in terms of goals conceded and the best scoring output in Serie A when they won the Scudetto.
At Juventus his team was dominant in every facet, Real Madrid struggled during the Galacticos era and didn’t have great success in the Champions League, but were still a force domestically.
Now following a statistically successful spell with England, Capello is transforming Russian football. They beat out Portugal in Group F in UEFA World Cup qualifying, where they automatically booked a spot in the tournament. In 16 matches, Russia have lost just twice, winning nine times and drawing on five occasions.
The World Cup will be the biggest test for Capello. He has a chance to show the world what he’s done with the national team in a little under two years. Regardless of what happens, he always seems to be remembered nowadays for his time with England and his second spell in Madrid, not to mention the Calciopoli scandal.
He shouldn’t be though, because even if those teams didn’t succeed in terms of the amount of trophies, Capello did some amazing work then and in the 1990’s to justify his position as one of the greatest coaches of all time.
