Fabio Capello: “I kicked Ronaldo out because he liked to party”

Fabio Capello spoke at the inauguration of the 2023-24 academic year of the University Institute of Linguistic Mediators (Limec) and discussed his second spell at Real Madrid, in the 2006-07 season.

Getting rid of Ronaldo

“In February 2007 I decided to kick Ronaldo Nazario out,” Capello explained. “He was someone who liked to party and involved the group in going out with him. One day Van Nistelrooy came in and said to me: ‘Sir, it smells of alcohol in the dressing room’ and it was true. Ronaldo weighed 94 kg that year. In Korea, at the 2002 World Cup, he weighed 82. I told him to lose weight... he went to 92.5.”

Warning Milan

The Italian claims he even told AC Milan not to sign him. “Berlusconi called me one day to ask my advice on a hypothetical purchase of Ronaldo. I advised him against it, telling him that he was a party animal, and that he only thought about being surrounded by women. He said: ‘OK, thanks Fabio. The day after Ronaldo signed for Milan, he didn’t listen to me.”

Capello on Cassano

The former LaLiga champion with Madrid also criticised Antonio Cassano’s behaviour: “I came to blows with Cassano. Cassano was asking for chips before every game, which was unacceptable. I was more angry with the chef than with him. I didn’t understand why he did those things.”

On winning LaLiga

The Italian coach later went on to discuss winning the last game of the season against Mallorca to clinch the title. “We played against Mallorca. We were 1-0 down in the first half and we had to win to win the league. My players were all scared, they made bad passes. At half-time I made them all sit on the floor, I moved Roberto Carlos who was in front of me, and I also sat next to them. I said to them: ‘We’ve moved from nine points off Barcelona and now we have to give away a league title?’ I had to calm them down. If I shouted it would put even more pressure on them. Do you know how it ended? 3-1 for us - champions of Spain!”

Returning to Milan

Once he left Madrid he returned to Milan and says it was the biggest mistake of his life. “Going back was the biggest mistake of my life. Berlusconi had called me. I asked Florentino Pérez to let me go, but in Milan, I did everything wrong. The league was disastrous, but that experience taught me a lot.”

Finally, Capello spoke about the teams he would like to coach in today’s game. “Which team would I like to coach today? Barça, Real or Bayern. I’ve coached them all in Italy,” he concluded.