New England coach Capello supported Germany in 1966 World Cup

The former Real Madrid and AC Milan coach, who was 20 at the time, taunted his English cousin Giorgio Callighan throughout the tournament.

Mr Callighan, who played football with Fabio during visits to his Italian relatives as a teenager, revealed: "I took a lot of stick. I visited northern Italy many times as a child, but I only really got to know Fabio in 1966 when England were in the World Cup.

"All the Italians supported Germany against England at the time, including Fabio of course. I got a lot of stick because I was English.

"I don't think Fabio had anything against England. It was just that everyone in Italy supported the Germans because there were a lot of Italian players in the German league at the time."

But Mr Callighan, who lives in Fleetwood, Lancashire, had the last laugh when Geoff Hurst's hattrick sealed a 4-2 win in the Wembley final. Italy had been knocked out by outsiders North Korea.

Mr Callighan's mother, Giorgia Capello, was brought up in the village of Begliano between Venice and Trieste on the Adriatic coast. She was a cousin of Fabio's father Guerrino and the families farmed the same pastures.

Giorgia met her English husband Nicholas Callighan when he was a lance-corporal fighting in northern Italy in the Second World War. They married in Italy and moved to England in 1948.

Mr Callighan's sister Nicolina, 60, said: "Although my mother and Fabio's father were only cousins, in Italian families this is as close as brothers and sisters in an English family."

She said while Fabio has gone "from one glamorous club to another" his English relatives have remained faithful to humble Fleetwood Town, who play in the Unibond League and are known as the Codheads because of the town's association with trawling.

But she added: "We have always followed Fabio's progress and have always been immensely proud of him.

"We watched him on the television and have always cheered him on, even when he was playing against England."

Of his visits to Italy, Mr Callighan said: "I remember Fabio well. He was a good solid player in a local minor league at the time.

"We used to play together on a pebbly pitch. Fabio was very intense about his football, but we all were, being young lads."

Mr Callighan said he would love to meet the coach again but would never impose upon him. He said: "Football is my passion and I would love to sit down with Fabio and discuss tactics.

"I'm a big supporter of Fleetwood and Blackpool and I know that's not in the same league as Fabio's.

"He's got a difficult job with the England team. But if anybody can do it, Fabio can."