<H2>Fabio Capello's decision to deny the world's most famous footballer his 100th cap should serve as a warning to England's other superstars, his close friends have told Sky News.
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http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1640960.jpg Fearsome reputation: Fabio Capello
Trusted friends of new England manager say that, unlike his recent predecessors in the post, he has an ego as big as any of the multi-millionaires he has to pick from - including the likes of David Beckham.
Sven-Goran Eriksson did not have the nerve to drop Beckham. Steve McLaren, who took over following Eriksson's abject failure in the last World Cup, did it straight away, only to be forced into an embarrassing climbdown later when things started to go wrong.
Now, Capello has ruthlessly ruled Beckham out of the game with Switzerland next Wednesday, even though it is a meaningless friendly that would have allowed the midfielder to notch up a century of international appearances.
However, he has not closed the door completely - and he may be hoping to provoke a similar reaction to the one he got when he dropped Beckham from the Real Madrid team.
http://adserver.adtech.de/adserv|3.0...DTECH;loc=300;The midfielder forced his way back into the line-up and played a major part in helping Real win the Spanish league.
His decision to dispense with Beckham will not have surprised Capello's Italian mentor Gibi Fabbri, who has known him for 46 years.
Nor will it have come as a shock to his friend and former team-mate Luigi Pasetti, now a director at a youth academy attached to AC Milan.
Both suggest there is no room for popular sentiment in Capello's thinking: that he is is single-minded, knowledgable, and always puts the team before any individual.
"I am convinced that he, as a world-class coach, has the authority to be able to say to a player, either you play better or I'll pull you out," Fabbri told Sky News.
"Like he did with Beckham in Spain, like he did with Del Piero in Italy when he was at his peak with Juventus.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1640962.jpg Beckham may never make 100 caps
"He understands when a player is not performing up to his ability. He can do it either with good manners or with an iron hand. He knows how to say 'You can do better'."
Pasetti understands how much Capello values the team over the individual.
"England has great players," he said.
"But they are players that when put together as a team haven't been able to produce.
"He has the capacity to change that. He did it with clubs where it wasn't easy to put together - especially at Roma or Madrid - with important personalities like Ronaldo and similar players.
"But he was able to do it, although not without conflict, because he doesn't hold back."
Pasetti also said Capello would keep big-name, big-money players in check because "he has an even stronger personality than they do".
Fabbri added: "The best thing is he asks questions to all the players. He talks to them individually and asks the problems they might be having and at the same time he gives instructions related to the role they occupy, what they have to do, to convince the player to give all they have for the other players, not for themselves.
"When he speaks, they will listen."
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