Capello’s sharpest point was not about flair or finishing. It was about the one thing Italy used to treat as non-negotiable: defending.
“Acredito que precisamos melhorar muito em todos os aspectos, especialmente intensidade, passes e essas coisas”, Capello said in the report. He reportedly argued that the problem is not really in attack or midfield, but in a back line that no longer reflects the country’s old standards.
That criticism cuts to the heart of Italy’s football culture. For decades, the national side could survive bad nights because its structure, concentration and centre-backs gave it control. When that edge goes, everything looks shakier.
Capello also reportedly threw his support behind Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil, and the logic is easy to follow. Ancelotti has long been valued for calm, flexibility and authority without theatre.
“Estou torcendo pelo Brasil do Carlo Ancelotti: ele é um personagem incrível, se integra rapidamente em qualquer ambiente, e no Brasil isso não é tão simples”, Capello said in the report.
It is not hard to see why that combination would appeal in tournament football, where ego management can matter as much as tactics.
Capello reportedly also spoke warmly about Turkey, praising their personality and pointing to Hakan Calhanoglu and Kenan Yildiz as figures who could tilt big matches.
And then there is that Lampard memory. Capello’s view, as relayed in the report, is that the moment helped force football toward goal-line technology. For him, it is still unfinished business.
The next storyline is obvious: whether Italy can rebuild that lost defensive certainty - and whether Capello’s faith in Ancelotti’s Brazil and an emerging Turkey proves well placed when the next major tournament spotlight returns.