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Capello was born in the Bisiacheria, in the northeast corner of Italy in which there was brutal fighting in both world wars. Guerrino, his father, was sent to a prison camp in Germany and returned in 1945.

The once-strapping Guerrino weighed a mere 48 kilos, little more than one hundred pounds.

It may have been the realisation of how lucky he was to be alive. It may have been the will to buckle down and start again now that the horror was behind him. Or it may simply have been that after six years of hatred and violence, it was time for some love.

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Whatever the case, Fabio Capello was conceived around that time. And on 18 June, 1946, Guerrino’s wife, Evelina, gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The Italian Republic had only been created on 2 June that year and, until 14 September, 1947, the area was controlled by the British Army’s Third Survey, based in nearby Trieste, which meant that Capello missed out on being “born British” by 16 days.

And, if you believe in destiny, perhaps you could have predicted that this little boy would grow up to one day manage England. Among the British troops in the area were a fair few who had played professional football and who would have trained on the pitch in Pieris, just a stone’s throw from where Capello was born. Among them was Stan Mortensen, who would go on to become a legendary centre forward for Blackpool and England.

There is zero evidence that Capello saw Mortensen going through his paces in Pieris, but it’s tempting to picture the scene. Who knows? — maybe the infant Fabio Capello was there at pitchside, perhaps in his mother’s arms. Given that Guerrino was involved with the local football club, it stands to reason that he would have been around. And, maybe, just maybe, he would have wanted to show off his baby to the future England forward.

Capello was a key figure in the Juventus side who won the Serie A title in 1972-73. But they were to meet their match in the European Cup final — an experience that would influence his future hugely.

Ajax had won the European Cup two years running and were looking for the hat-trick. They weren’t just the inventors of Total Football, they were its highest exponents. And, with the likes of Ruud Krol, Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens, Arie Haan and, of course, Johan Cruyff, they oozed class.

That night, Juve were taught a footballing lesson. Rep’s header beat Zoff after just four minutes and it was pretty much game over from there.

After the match, insult came on top of injury. As the Juve squad sat on the team bus, stewing with sadness and anger, they watched as Barry Hulshoff, the Dutch captain, strolled over to the Ajax bus. He had a gorgeous woman on his arm and was carrying the European Cup by one of its handles, as if it was some kind of cheap luggage. Capello watched as Hulshoff flipped the cup to the kitman, who chucked it into the baggage compartment of the bus. Hulshoff then turned, smiled and wandered over to the casino.

“They just left the cup there as if it was some kind of bauble and went back to the casino to gamble,” says Luciano Spinosi [a Juventus defender]. It may have been incidents such as these which prompted Capello never to dwell on victories (or defeats, for that matter). Juventus had worked so hard to get to the final. Ajax had treated the European Cup as no big deal — at least outwardly — and, once it was won, it got put away along with the sweaty socks and dirty jerseys.