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MARTINEZ SLAMS CAPELLO

The Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has said that the former England manager Fabio Capello missed out on the opportunity to make Victor Moses play for the England national team. The 21-year-old recently completed his £ 9 million move to Chelsea and has been having a great impact for the European champions in a number of matches. He currently plays for the Nigerian national team, but was eligible to play for England as well due to the fact that it was his adopted country. However, the then manager Fabio Capello did not show enough interest in the player, which led to him representing Nigeria.

Fabio Capello is currently the team manager of the Russian national team. Roberto Martinez has said that Victor Moses is the kind of player that every team needs because he can beat a player in any situation. It is something that becomes extremely essential because of the fact that teams are now more defensive and are tactically set up in a battle with than before. Martinez has also said that he is not suppressed to the fact that Victor Moses has had an impact at Chelsea. Even though he has found it hard to play on a regular basis, he has been impressive on every occasion he has been called up.

“Victor is a quite unique player. When you work with him you realise he is not a normal footballer, not a typical modern winger. He is an old-fashioned type of winger, with incredible raw talent that allows him to go past people. He brings real penetration to the wide positions. Teams are so well set-up tactically these days that you need players who can bring something different, and they don’t appear that often,” said the Wigan manager about the lack of interest shown by the Russian manager Capello to pick Victor Moses for England.

CAPELLO LIKES FALCAO

The Russian national team manager Fabio Capello has said that he has not seen another striker impress him as much as the Athletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao, who has been linked with a £ 45 million move to Chelsea in the January transfer window. The 26-year-old Columbia striker has for some time linked with some of the best clubs in the world, but he decided to move to the Spanish club Athletico Madrid last season. Signed for around £ 40 million, the striker was extremely impressive after he helped the team win the Europa league. He scored more than 35 goals in all competitions for Athletico Madrid last season.

Now, he was once again influential in helping the team lift the UEFA Super cup in the match against Chelsea. He scored a hat-trick in the match and was at his imperious best. This has led to praise from managers across the world, while none have been as high as the one from the Russian national team manager Fabio Capello. The 66-year-old has said that Radamel Falcao is the best striker he has ever seen. Radamel Falcao has already scored more than 10 goals in the start of the new season.

“Throughout my entire career, there has been only one player who impressed me as much as Messi when I first saw him against my Juventus at the Joan Gamper trophy, and that is Radamel Falcao. He is a fantastic striker, without a doubt the best around at the moment,” Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport regarding the Columbian striker. Even though Athletico Madrid are persistent that they will not sell the player in the January transfer window, it is believed that the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has made the signing of the player his personal interest in the last few weeks.

CAPELLO STARTS WITH A DRAW

Fabio Capello began his era as the Russian national team manager with a 1-1 draw with the Ivory Coast. The former England manager was recently the announced as the outgoing Russian manager. His first ever match as the Russian National team manager was against Ivory Coast. He had created an uproar amongst the Russian fans just prior to the match by announcing the appointment of Andrei Arshavin as the captain of the national team. Many fans had demanded that the 30-year-old Arsenal winger be removed from the captain’s post after his degrading comments about the Russian national team following the Euro 2012 exit at the group stages.

One of the main tasks of the former England manager will be to get the Russian national team into the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The qualification for the World Cup will be beginning shortly and one got a great taste of the managerial skills of the former Real Madrid manager in the match against Ivory Coast. CSKA Moscow midfielder Alan Dzagoev was on the scoresheet for Russia, whileSt Etienne player Max Gradel secured the equaliser for Ivory Coast. Both teams were unable to secure the goal that would separate them in the remainder of the match.

“It was a very uneasy match as Ivory Coast team have a set of very strong players in their line-up. I’m really pleased with the Russian team’s performance. I knew the team is strong but today I’ve got more proof of that. I had a precious opportunity to test young players against strong rivals. Some of them made a debut performance today and I’m glad that now they have a chance for further development,” said Fabio Capello after the match. The Premier league players like Andrei Arshavin were part of the team along with the former Premier league players like Roman Pavlyuchenko.

CAPELLO MIGHT TAKE CHARGE

The former England manager Fabio Capello has emerged as one of the surprise targets for the Russian football Federation, who were searching for the next manager to replace Dick Advocaat. The Dutchman failed to get Russia past the group stages of the Euro 2012. He had announced prior to the tournament that he would be stepping down as the manager of the Russian national team. After having failed to get Russia past the group stages, there was little surprise that he would continue as the manager of the Russian national team. As a result, the Russian football Federation have been linked with a number of high-profile managers included Harry Redknapp and Guardiola for the managerial post.

One surprise name on the list is former England manager Fabio Capello, who is out of work for the last few months after having resigned from his post. The former Real Madrid and AC Milan manager resigned from the post after citing differences with the English football Federation over the treatment of Chelsea defender John Terry. It is thought that even though he would be interested in moving to a club team, he is still looking towards extending the international career.

“Today Capello visited the Russian Football Union [RFU] headquarters, conducting negotiations. I think during this week or by next Tuesday at the latest, we’ll talk with all those coaches on the [RFU] list who would be willing to discuss the offer,” said the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko. It is expected that Fabio Capello will sign a two-year deal worth around £ 20 million. “I can say that my father would be very interested to become Russia’s coach. He has always been a great admirer of the Russian team and I know that he would be glad to talk to [RFU] officials and listen to their proposals,” said his agent and son, Pierfilippo Capello.

RUSSIA CRITICISE FANS

The Russian Football Federation has moved quickly to publically criticise the actions of some of their fans’ actions in their opening game against the Czech Republic. The Russian Federation called on its fans to improve their behaviour in future games.

The “Football Union of Russia” posted a statement on its website calling on Russian supporters to “Respect yourself, your home and your team”. They were keen to praise the majority of their fans who, as usual were in excellent voice getting behind their team and creating an excellent atmosphere in the ground whilst watching their team outclass the Czechs in their 4-1 triumph. They were however equally keen to tell supporters that political statements “have no place in the stands”. They also called on their supporters to cooperate with their hosts and match day organisers and staff.

Tuesday night sees the Russians take on Poland in what will be another intense game and the two sets of fans will both be in passionate mood, the worry will be that it could spill over in to a larger scale of trouble. The Russians have appealed to their fans in the direct build up to this game and are clearly keen to avoid anything that could damage their reputation in the way that the reputation of the England side and supporters was damaged in the 90’s. Thankfully Wayne Rooney et al don’t have to put up with that any longer.

UEFA are investigating alleged “improper conduct”, in relation to “crowd disturbances, the setting off and throwing of fireworks and the display of illicit banners.” UEFA are also investigating allegations of racist abuse directed by Russian supporters at Czech fullback, Theodor Gebre Selassie. He described the abuse as “nothing extreme” but did acknowledge that he had been aware of it.

The “football against racism in Europe” group highlighted the presence of the “Russian Empire” flag in the stadium. A sign used by nationalists in Russia and something which UEFA and the Russian Federation will be keen to kick out of the football environment.

Swedish football Zlatan Ibrahimovic backed the move by the Russian FA.

DARK HORSES

The Russian national team manager Dick Advocaat has said that Russia can certainly be the dark horses of the Euro 2012. The team was definitely one of the outstanding performers and the surprise package of the Euro 2008. They made it into the finals of the competition only to beaten by eventual winners Spain. Due to the fact that a number of favourite teams like Germany, Netherlands, and Portugal have all been drawn in one single group, it provides Russia with a great opportunity to win the tournament according to the manager, who will be stepping down from his post at the end of this European Championship.

Dick Advocaat will be taking charge of PSV Eindhoven after the end of the tournament. He has said that he has set the team a target of making it into the final of the tournament, which is certainly a tall order considering the favourites like Spain, Italy, and France. Dick Advocaat recalled the Euro 2004 in order to show that it is necessarily not the case that a favourite team will win the competition. Greece managed to stun the world by winning the European 2004 against all the odds. Dick Advocaat reckons that Russia can do the same this time around.

“Our aim is to be in the final. I had recently signed a contract with PSV but right now I’m only thinking of my job with Russia. When people think of Euro favourites they usually name Germany, Netherlands and Spain. But don’t count out Russia. If we play to our full potential, we could surprise a few people. I would call us a dark horse of the tournament. If you recall Euro 2004, nobody expected Greece (to win) it,” Dick Advocaat said in a press conference given on Monday.

GET A RUSSIAN IN

Russia and CSKA Moscow defender Vasily Berezutsky has said that the Russian national football team does not need foreign at the incharge of team, but rather needs a Russian to lead them. Russia national team manager Dick Advocaat announced recently that he will be stepping down from his post after the Euro 2012. This has led to intense debate regarding the successor for Dick Advocaat. Russia has had a number of foreign coaches in the past including Guus Hiddink, who did a spectacular job with Russia. However, in order to make the national team even better, Berezutsky reckons that a Russian should be the next manager of the national team.

Dick Advocaat has been the manager of the Russian national football team for just over two years now. He said on Monday that he will step down from his post following the Euro 2012. Yuri Syomin was the last Russian to lead the national team. He did so prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Russia failed to qualify for the World Cup, and since then, the country has been adopting the policy of recruiting foreign managers. Berezutsky also expressed his surprise at the decision by Dick Advocaat to step down from his post after the Euro 2012 because he expected him to carry on for much longer.

“Regarding our future, I’m sure that a Russian coach should work with the Russian national team. The news that Advocaat will leave the national team after the Euros is obviously very unexpected. It’s pointless to talk about the reasons why at the moment because that’s the prerogative of only Advocaat and Sergei Fursenko,” Berezutsky said following the news that Advocaat will step down from his post. Russian striker Pavlyuchenko also expressed his surprise at the decision by the national team manager.

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