Real Madrid hire Capello as new coach

Madrid, July 5:

Real Madrid hired Fabio Capello as coach on Wednesday, a day after incoming president Ramon Calderon said he would hire the former Juventus leader. Capello, who led Real Madrid to the 1997 league title, resigned from Juventus on Tuesday, the same day an Italian prosecutor asked a sports tribunal to demote the team to Serie C or lower and strip the team of the Serie A titles it won in the past two seasons for its role in Italy’s match-fixing scandal.

“I’m very happy to return to Madrid and very excited about Italy reaching the World Cup final,” Capello said on Wednesday after arriving in the Spanish capital. The club said on Wednesday on its Web site that Capello would be presented at a news conference at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium the following day.