Capello keen on England position
Former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has said he would be interested in the England manager's job.
Steve McClaren was sacked after England's 3-2 defeat by Croatia cost them a place at the Euro 2008 finals.
And Capello, who has won league titles with Real, AC Milan and Roma, said: "It would be a beautiful challenge. I am the right age."
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho are the bookies' favourites for the job.
O'Neill was rejected by the FA after interviewing for the role before McClaren's appointment and may be reluctant to put himself in the frame again.
Mourinho, meanwhile, has been out of work since leaving Chelsea in September following a dispute with Blues owner Roman Abramovich.
The Portuguese has the credentials to be successful, after winning back-to-back Premier League titles with Chelsea a season after clinching the Champions League with Porto, but may prefer club management to the international arena.
Capello is so far the only potential candidate to publicly declare an interest in coaching England.
The 61-year-old was sacked by Real at the end of last season despite winning the Spanish title and he is available as he is now working as a commentator for Italian television.
However, Capello might prove to be a controversial choice to succeed McClaren, as his many successes on the pitch have been marred by some unsavoury episodes.
He led Roma to the title in 2001 - their first major honour in a decade - but then became embroiled in a dispute with club captain Francesco Totti, was accused of moving on key players and ended his spell at Roma with the club in danger of relegation.
Capello them became Juventus boss and led them to league titles in 2005 and 2006, but the club was stripped of their trophies because of their involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
Following that, Capello resigned as Juventus manager and joined Real Madrid for a second spell - having first taken the reins in 1996 - where he again claimed the Spanish title in 2007.
But the success did not stop Capello from being dismissed by the Spanish giants, who were unhappy with his defensive style of play.
Capello fascinated by England job
Former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello says he would like to succeed Steve McClaren as England manager.
Capello, 61, who has had a successful career in club management with Real, AC Milan, Roma and Juventus, told Football Focus: "All challenges fascinate me.
"The challenge of coaching a national side like England would be something different. The job is not about coaching every day.
"It would be a very difficult challenge but a very exciting one."
Reacting to reports that former Porto and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has ruled himself out of contention, Capello added: "I was convinced Mourinho would have accepted.
"The fact that he has opted to step aside means that he has another aim. But I am older than Mourinho."
Capello was sacked by Real in the summer of 2007 despite leading them to the Primera Liga title last season, 10 years after his first league title at the Bernabeu.
He has picked up seven Serie A titles with three different clubs, and won the Champions League with Milan in 1994.
Meanwhile, Franz Beckenbauer has urged England to appoint former Germany boss Jurgen Klinsmann.
Beckenbauer says Klinsmann, 43, has the right credentials having guided Germany to the semi-finals in the 2006 World Cup and played with Tottenham.
"The job would be ideal for him and England as well," Beckenbauer said.
"Jurgen has very clear ideas who can enforce them. He knows what he wants, he speaks very good English and would revel in the England job."
German football icon Beckenbauer, captain and coach of the teams that won the World Cup in 1974 and 1990, believes Klinsmann would not be afraid to shake things up within the England set-up.
Writing in his weekly column for Bild, he said: "Who can lead the boys with the three lions out of their coma? One name comes immediately to mind. Jurgen Klinsmann.
"He'd have three years until the 2010 World Cup to form a new team and he wouldn't have to worry about old baggage.
"Jurgen would be a new beginning for England. He is looking for a role in a country with a great tradition and appetite for football.
"He is a man with a clear vision and knows how to implement that vision even against resistance. I could well imagine England getting a fresh start with him.
"He speaks the language, has a great reputation there thanks to his time at Tottenham and was even footballer of the year."
Klinsmann took charge of Germany after they were again humiliated at Euro 2004 with a first-round exit.
He revamped and modernised the German FA (DFB), leading Germany to a surprising third place at the 2006 World Cup.
But a potential stumbling is Klinsmann's likely insistence that the FA would allow him the leeway the DFB did to coach Germany.
Klinsmann resisted pressure to abandon his home in southern California, watching matches on television and communicating with players via phone and email.
Most members of Germany's football establishment accepted the commuting but criticism of Klinsmann's approach invariably emerged when the German team performed poorly in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup.
But Manchester City's German midfielder Dietmar Hamann questioned whether the English public would accept Klinsmann as their new coach.
"Would the English people like a German to be in charge of their national team? It is an interesting one."
