We remember Fabio Capello’s trophies with which, as coach of Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus, he was counted among the greats of football. But somehow he was not always on the best terms with the “artists”, the football geniuses, whom he wanted to make work on the field.
The older generations surely remember how he “bullied” Dejan Savićević upon his arrival in Milan, the conflicts between the coach and the player continued, until finally, after some time, they did not find a way to cooperate. The situation was the same with the Brazilian Ronaldo in Real Madrid, with whom he entered into a conflict, because the “Phenomenon” did not want to run in training and even less in matches. Simply, such “geniuses” are specific in their understanding of football. And so is Messi.
Capello is now one of the few on whom the Argentine did not make a particularly strong impression at the World Cup in Qatar. Except against Croatia.
“Messi and Mbappe were dominant in the semi-finals. “Lionel had a great game, while Kylian’s actions caused two goals, his two shots changed the direction and France beat Morocco,” said Capello.
But Capello had reservations about the Argentine.
“Messi is the real Messi again. But that only applies to the semi-final match. “Before that, he was just walking on the field.”
All in all, Capello is happy with how the World Cup in Qatar turned out.
“The players came fresh and ran a lot, which is a result of arriving in Qatar in the middle of the competition year. “We saw the World Cup in running and a good level of competition, which is completely different from the World Cup which is played in June when the players are tired.”
The Italian did not want to predict the winner.
“The two teams that made it to the finals are the ones that reached a higher level in the technical sense. Both will find it difficult to win the title. “I really don’t know who will win,” said Capello.