How Chelsea kid can help Capello find redemption and why Brazil is the true home of football

By Martin Lipton

Published 23:15 02/08/11

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Fabio Capello’s wish to see Josh McEachran get a chance at Chelsea this summer was further evidence that, for all the stick he gets, the Italian does want his legacy to live on for the right reasons.

Capello was more relaxed in Rio than at any time in his England reign, aware that he has a final chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the Three Lions fans.

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Walking along the beaches of Rio last week only reinforced the feeling that Brazil is the true home of football.

Almost every square inch of sand was marked out with goalposts or nets for foot-volleyball, the skill levels enough to make you stop and stare.

One boy prodigy in the slum favelas that ­punctuate the city brought whistles of appreciation. “Him?” we were told. “There are thousands better than that.” If only we could say the same.

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We do like to moan about the Premier League but at least if Liverpool or Spurs were to get themselves relegated everybody would know where they will be playing the following season.

Not so, it seems, in ­Argentina, where the first response to River Plate ­dropping through the exit door was, incredibly, to merge the top two divisions into a 38-team league.

It was only yesterday, five days before the start of the new Apertura season, that the plan was dropped as the Argentine FA backed down in the face of outrage up and down the country.

And to think we criticise Richard Scudamore...

NEW South American football blog: How will River Plate's 'millionarios' cope with relegation?  

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