Buongiorno Fabio Capello: Soho Square
The Football Association's offices are in the middle of London's Italian district. Sam Green investigates what it has to offer Fabio Capello and his entourage of coaches.
If Fabio Capello and his four Italian assistants want to discuss strategy over a cappuccino and cannoli, Bar Italia on Soho's Frith Street is the natural choice.
And the new England manager could find himself being spoken to in a familiar regional accent. Waiter Guido Carugno, 28, comes from the northern city of Udine, close to Capello's home town, Pieris. "I prefer F1 to football, but of course it makes me proud that Capello is your manager. It makes all Italians proud," he said.
A Soho institution, Bar Italia was opened by the Polledri family in 1949 and is a hotbed of Italian football pride. Serie A games are shown every Sunday, when the London Scooter Club also meet there, and it hosted legendary scenes when Italy won the 2006 World Cup.
So what kind of response would greet Capello if he led England to similar glory in 2010? "Well," said Veronica Polledri, whose father Antonio is the owner, "Italians wouldn't be happy about it, but at least they could say it was Fabio who did it for England."
Come lunchtime, Capello and his crew could well find themselves being ushered by the Polledri clan into their adjacent restaurant, Little Italy, where FA staff, including chief executive Brian Barwick, are already regular diners.
A private upstairs room keeps unwanted attention at bay and head chef Fabrizio Morelli would no doubt be delighted to whip up one of his popular lobster linguine dishes for the man who led his beloved Juventus to two Serie A titles.
Labels: Fabio Capello, seleccionadores, selecções, treinadores
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 11:00 AM.
