As Russia continues to lick its wounds over the country's early exit from the World Cup, the sporting director of the country's football union has promised Russia football coach Fabio Capello would provide answers — but not before going on a holiday first.
"He will explain what happened as openly as possible, why this was the result. He will talk about his mistakes, which all qualified professionals make sometimes," said Nikolai Pisarev, the sporting director of Russia's Football Union, sports website Sportbox reported Sunday.
Capello is already due to face a parliamentary committee in October to explain why Russia exited the tournament in the knock-out rounds, having failed to win a match in a group that included Algeria, South Korea and Belgium.
But the Italian, a known disciplinarian, is reportedly adverse to outsiders interfering in his work and could threaten to resign if lawmakers try to influence the internal affairs of his team.
"I am familiar with [Capello] … If he feels he cannot build a strong team [ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia], he will leave — especially if politicians try to give him advice on football," football agent Shandor Varga said, Izvestia reported.
Capello has so far refrained from commenting on his future, but if he does decide to call it a day he will join a growing list of managers to have handed in their notice following the World Cup tournament.
On Monday, Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari resigned from his post after Brazil was humiliated in its home tournament, losing 3-0 in the play-off for third place against the Netherlands after a crushing 7-1 loss in the semi-finals against Germany. The results marked the first back-to-back defeats for Brazil on home soil since 1940.
The German side went on to lift the trophy in Sunday's final with a 1-0 win over Argentina, whose coach Alejandro Sabello will also step down now the tournament has finished.
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