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Footballmedia.net Exclusive- Rashid Saadlou : Believe in fate and perchance you can join me to believe that Fabio Capello is destined to bring back the memory of 1966 FIFA World Cup glory for England; the man who could have enjoyed British nationality, only if he had stepped into this world sixteen days earlier than the due time.
Don Fabio is probably the only man who can help England reaching the World Cup 2010 Final; a seemingly impossible mission which some of the greatest including the late Sir Bobby Robson, Glen Huddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven-Göran Eriksson did not accomplish over the last 40 years. Fabio Capello, the very first Italian player who scored at Wembley against England 37 years ago is now determined to succeed another insurmountable challenge in his illustrated career and just prove that his eye-popping list of achievements is not what you call a fluke.

The best description to sum up how Capello has changed England team drastically during the last 12 months is what Rio Ferdinand, the central defender said six months after the Italian gaffer was in charge. The Manchester United man emphasized that England team was more like a "circus" before Fabio took the lead. And it was not really far from reality, was it?

Self-explanatory records
After the heartbreaking failure of qualifying for Euro 2008 campaign and the dismissal of Steve McClaren who more or less was a scapegoat for Sven-Göran Eriksson's poor results, English football fans were left wondering how to deal with their unbelievable absence in European Championships. The likes of Jose Mourinho and Martin O'Neil were rumored to occupy the hot seat, but after a flurry of speculation surrounding around Fabio Capello's name, he turned into the most likely candidate to get the job; one that he said would be his last to take care of.
Eventually, it was on 14th of December, 2008 that the FA officially announced Capello as their new manager. Business as usual, with their inevitable jingoistic and cliché views, the English media snapped at the foreign manager. Jeff Powell, the veteran Daily Mail columnist wrote somewhat of a xenophobic report in which the very first line spoke for itself: "And so we move on from the hammer-throwing Swedish Lotharios who live half their year in darkness to the spaghetti-twirling Latin lovers of football's black arts."

The unfavorable results casted up by Sven-Göran Eriksson had caused a wave of cynical attitudes in England and English people felt betrayed by the former Swedish gaffer who, from their point of view, ruined what they recall as England's Golden Generation during the World Cup 2006 finals.
As mistakes are there to be made for journalists, just the same as all of us, let's say that Jeff Powell made an error of judgment this time around.
Ever since his arrival, Fabio Capello has made an enormous impact and even though some critics blame him for what they refer to as the mammoth football, it is always his records that loom large. Simply put, you can't argue with his records.
Just before taking the helm at England, it was the pragmatic Don Fabio who resurrected the crippled Real Madrid team and led them to get the La Liga trophy back after four years of crowning-drought.
So far, Capello has garnered 15 wins out of 21 matches and the fact that his team has only been defeated four times (three of them took place in friendly meetings against France, Spain and Brazil) makes it even better.

Discipline is the key
While Capello was questioned by Italian Police in January 2008 for reported tax irregularities, the man has always been a martinet in football territory. The former Real Madrid and Juventus coach seems calm and collected most of the time (even when witnessing some of Real Madrid's great goals during 2006-2007 season, he only afforded a roomful smile) but when it comes to discipline and respect, he doesn't go easy on anyone.
"I cannot understand why 20 players, for example, should have to wait for two players that arrive late." Capello stressed in an interview with Independent on October 2009 before adding: "I don't understand why a player would have no respect for rules, or don't respect the coaches and other people they work with. I expect respect."
Reviewing England's only defeat in World Cup qualification round against Ukraine, it was a result of defensive blunder made by Rio Ferdinand which was followed by Robert Green's dismissal.

While the defeat damaged England's 100% record of invincibility during the World Cup qualification campaign, there was more to learn than just getting engaged in post-mortem talks for Three Lions. In fact, Capello made it crystal clear once again that the word Ace does not exist in his philosophy and there is no room for error for his men in big occasions. The Italian tactician, who had Rio Ferdinand's performance under surveillance before the match against Ukraine, warned the 31-year-old that he needs to fight for his berth in the World Cup squad.

With this sort of approach of Capello, it wouldn't go amiss to mention that he is a great admirer of Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who ruled in Spain between the years of 1939 to 1975 and was well-known for his skills in leadership from an early age. In fact, Capello seems like a born leader.

England's bête noire
On the stroke of his arrival, Fabio Capello was provided with some DVDs of England's previous matches in different tournaments to get a view of the team's tactics and find where the shoe pinch is.
During the last five years, England have been out of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2004 (both took place against Portugal) after agonizing penalty shoot-outs and definitely they don't want the same old story to happen during the 2010 World Cup finals. Penalties are now more of a bête noire for English football.
There is an old saying in football: "in penalties, the goal looks smaller and the goalkeeper goes bigger". And in England's case, it has really been proven.
While England's penalty shoot-outs nightmare might be bound to occur in South Africa, Capello has tried to take the upper hand and spring into action beforehand. "Penalties are a lottery." Capello told ESPN. He then added:" I remember some very important players didn't take penalties because they didn't feel sure they would score."

As a precaution, Capello said he has chosen some players to take penalty kicks in South Africa and so a fixed group will steel themselves for the big task. The likes of James Milner, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Jermaine Defoe are said to be featured in Capello's list.
For some reason, I would liken the England's current situation to United States' Olympic success in Beijing last summer. The ardent supporters, the media, the fitness of the team beyond any question and chief among them, the unity between the players reminds me of that American team in Beijing Olympic Games, but the difference with England is that they have been waiting to reclaim the World Cup title for 44 years now and United States just had to wait for eight years (they have not been on top only during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games) to get their overall 13th Gold medal in the Games' history. Apart from all that, the big question still remains: "If Capello is not the man to bring the World Cup trophy to England this summer, is there anyone else capable of doing that?"