Fabio Capello: Real Madrid's dressing room smelled of booze

Fabio Capello coached Real Madrid during two different periods. The second lasted one season, 2006-2007, and the coach does not exactly have very good memories of his time in a dressing room that, many years later, he still considers was very unprofessional. The Italian recalled his experiences with Ronaldo, Cassano, Roberto Carlos, Guti, Beckham, Raúl and Co. during the inauguration of the academic year of the University Institute of Linguistic Mediators (Limec) in Milan. 

"One day Van Nistelrooy arrived and told me that 'here the dressing room smells of alcohol'. It was true." According to Capello, one of those responsible was Ronaldo Nazario. "I decided to fire him, he was someone who liked to party and got the group involved in going out with him," he recalls of the Brazilian, who he says "weighed 94 kilos that year". Four years earlier, "in Korea, at the 2002 World Cup, he weighed 82. I told him to lose weight... he reached 92.5", he explained.

In fact, the Italian warned Milan not to sign him: "Berlusconi asked me for advice and I advised him against it, I told him that he was a party animal and that he only thought about being surrounded by women". He wasn't very convincing, it turns out. "He told me: 'OK, thank you Fabio'." Days later, Ronaldo signed for Milan.

Chip head Cassano's French fries

But he did not only have problems with Ronaldo. Of Cassano in particular, he claims that the Italian was very unprofessional: "He asked for fries before every game, something unacceptable. I was more angry with the cook than with him. I didn't understand him." From his time at Real Madrid he also has a not very pleasant memory of the press that surrounds Los Blancos: "If you go abroad you must understand where you work, communication is everything, and in Spain the radios are in charge and the newspapers influence the public".