Fabio Capello conquered titles in Spain and Italy as a manager, but most notably his career peak came with AC Milan in the first half of the 1990’s as the Rossoneri went on to conquer four straight Scudetti between 1992 & 1996.
One of the most influential players during his time at San Siro was Dejan Savicevic, nicknamed Il Genio (The Genius) due to his attacking prowess. Capello was instrumental in luring Savicevic from Red Star Belgrade in 1992.
Speaking in an exclusive to il Giornale (via MilanNews), Capello reflected on the only regret of his star-studded managerial career that took him to the heights of European glory.
Marseille’s 1993 Champions League 1-0 triumph over Milan was plagued by match-fixing scandals, which saw them banned from subsequent international club competitions. Hence, the Rossoneri were allowed to play instead of the Marseillais in both the Super Cup & Intercontinental Cup – both of which were eventually lost.
Capello said: “The only regret is when I didn’t let Savicevic play in Tokyo in the Intercontinental Cup and we lost against Sao Paolo. They told me he was disqualified but then four hours before the game they told me that he could play.”
Romanian center-forward Florin Raducioiu started instead up front.
“In order not to disrespect Raducioiu, with whom we had prepared the game, I decided to play with the line-up I had in mind. Savicevic’s quality might have changed the fate of the game.”
Milan fell to a late winner Luis Antonio in the 88th minute, seven minutes after Jean Pierre-Papin’s equalizer. Sao Paulo ended the game 3-2 winners.
