Fabio Capello - File

LONDON (AP):

THE FOOTBALL Association (FA) yesterday approved the appointment of Fabio Capello as England's new soccer coach, pending final contract negotiations.

The FA board approved the hiring of the former AC Milan, AS Roma and Real Madrid coach. But both sides must still finalise the terms of the contract, which reportedly involves the appointment of four fellow Italians as part of Capello's staff.

"Discussions have continued throughout the day between the FA and Fabio Capello's advisers," FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said. "The FA board has also today approved Capello's appointment as England manager, subject to the successful conclusion of these contract negotiations. These will continue tomorrow.

"I want to stress that there are no problems and that we are going through the necessary process to reach a successful conclusion."

The FA hopes to get Capello in charge of the team through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and maybe beyond.

If the deal goes ahead, Capello will replace Steve McClaren, who was fired three weeks ago after failing to get England to next year's European Championship. That means England's first competitive game is not until September when European qualifying for World Cup 2010 begins.

Divided the nation

The 61-year-old Italian, who won nine titles with Milan, Roma and Madrid, would face friendly games against Switzerland at Wembley on February 6 and France on March 26 at the Stade de France - if he takes the job.

Capello has been offered the job even though he has no experience of domestic soccer in England and doesn't speak English well. The FA's decision to go for another non-English coach has again divided the nation with many coaches, players and fans convinced that the national team should be guided by an Englishman.

The FA's appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2001 was initially welcomed the Swede got the team to two World Cups in 2002 and 2006, as well as the 2004 European Championship, the fact that the team failed to advance past the quarter-finals was considered a failure by the fans and the media even though England were twice eliminated through the lottery of penalty shoot-outs.

But English coaches have a poor return in terms of titles in a Premier League dominated by foreigners, plus Manchester United's Alex Ferguson - a Scot.

By contrast, Capello's list of achievements is among the best in the game, winning titles with each of the four clubs he has coached, even though the Serie A championships he won with Juventus were nullified as a result of a match-fixing scandal that rocked Italian soccer.