World Cup - Capello unveils Sir Alf sculpture

Reuters - Fri, 06 Nov 08:31:00 2009

England manager Fabio Capello said he dreamed of emulating Alf Ramsey by winning the World Cup for England when he unveiled a bust of his predecessor at Wembley Stadium on Friday.

England manager Fabio Capello poses with a bust of former England manager Alf Ramsey, who led England to a World Cup win in 1966, after it was unveiled at Wembley Stadium in London - 0

"This is a very emotional moment for me and it's a great honour to be here," said Capello, who will be aiming to end England's wait to repeat Ramsey's 1966 triumph at the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

"I hope I can bring back the World Cup to stand alongside the Jules Rimet trophy that England won in 1966."

The bronze bust will be situated in the players tunnel at Wembley, and in the words of George Cohen, vice-captain of the 1966 team and who unveiled it with Capello, "it will remind every player to give of their best out on the pitch."

A number of players from the 1966-winning team including hat-trick scorer Geoff Hurst, Bobby Charlton, Ray Wilson, Martin Peters and goalkeeper Gordon Banks were at Wembley which has been re-built since England's triumph 43 years ago.

"Alf was a remarkable man and still has the respect of everyone who ever played for him. He was a disciplinarian but a man who you would give your all for," said Charlton.

"I think Fabio Capello has very similar qualities and hopefully he can achieve the same results as Sir Alf did."

Ramsey was England manager from 1963 until 1974 and died aged 79 in 1999.

Reuters

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  1. Mr.Onyibe, as far as England`s national soccer­ team ,to me it`s no surprise that they qualify, soccer­ is a team sport and they all did it together. Fabio­ Capello is a good communicater , it`s not always easy­ for any professional coach to put together a groupe of­ overpaid athletes and expect to run these overpaid­ athletes the way you want. that`s the reason behind­ Encland`s national team as far as the competition on­ the international level is concerned. now suddenly­ that same england that played in the last 2006­ world-cup now under Mr.capelli suddenly changed? Maybe,­ i just want to make a statement, it`s not on account­ that there`s an italian coach behind the bench, like­ now some italian red necks think that way, not me.there­ is still a lot of work to be done . in the meantime­ ther is seven months left . seven months is enough for­ things to change around, lets wait and see. ­ best of regards .. thank-you.

    From enriconardini, on Sun 8 Nov 5:05PM

  2. Honestly Iam a little surprised to see an italian coach­ running england`s national team, i feel that the idea­ of having a foriegner as national team coach seems a­ little aukward to my point of view. but yet, who am i­ to make such remarks. no disrespect to anyone, but in­ my opinion it defeats the purpase and also spoils the­ feeling of the world cup significance, what will happen­ next, will there be english soccer players playing in­ italy`s national team or vise versa, this is just to­ say that the money power makes many changes that for­ some soccer viewers lose interest . my english freinds,­ where is england`s pride . just think about it.

    From enriconardini, on Sat 7 Nov 9:57PM

  3. Fabio Capello is an amazing man. His ability to mold­ and blend his own personality and desires with the­ consciousness, dreams and aspirations of his employers­ and the people they represent is so advanced and­ fastidious its uncanny. This may partly explain why­ he's been so successful with so many high-profile­ clubs. With each passing day, his delicate and­ methodical style of preparing the English players,­ people and authorities for 2010 plays out with effusive­ savvy and panache. Could this be man that will final do­ it for England? Hmmmmm! It just might be.The world is­ watching.

    From mike onyibe, on Fri 6 Nov 9:15PM

  4. About time to!

    From js.jpg, on Fri 6 Nov 9:18AM
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