Fabio Capello becomes Russia national team coach

On July 16, the Russian Football Union (RFU) officially appointed Italian Fabio Capello as head coach of the country's national team.

Speaking to ITAR-TASS news agency, RFU Vice President Nikita Simonyan confirmed: "Today we have decided to appoint Fabio Capello as the new coach of the national team. We hope he will come to Moscow in the near future to finalize the details and sign the contract."

Coach Fabio Capello. (Source: thefootballfront.com)

Mr. Simonian, who is taking over as acting President of the RFU after former President Sergei Fursenko resigned last month, said that the contract between the two sides will likely be officially signed on July 18 or 19.

66-year-old veteran coach Capello will take over the "hot seat" left by Dutch coach Dick Advocaat after a disastrous campaign at EURO 2012 when Russia were eliminated after the group stage.

Coach Capello has led famous clubs such as AC Milan, AS Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid in his career. At the national team level, people remember Capello when he was the coach of the England team since 2007.

Under his leadership, the Three Lions played rather poorly and right before EURO 2012, Capello resigned due to a conflict with the English Football Association (FA) surrounding the FA stripping the captaincy of central defender John Terry.

After the heartbreak of EURO 2012 that forced RFU President Fursenko to resign, the search for a new coach for the Russian national team has become a hot topic among fans in the country. Last week, the RFU surprised the public by announcing a wide list of 13 candidates, including seven domestic coaches and famous foreign names.

Around the same time, Capello arrived in Moscow to meet with RFU officials in a rather rushed manner. The coach even had to wait several hours at the airport before the RFU completed the visa application process for him.

That trip made the Russian media quickly confirm Capello as the most promising name and on July 16, the RFU officially confirmed this appointment decision./.