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.

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.