London - Of course, bagging the top England job would mean the retired Italian refereeing ace having to give up a reported $2 million per annum Japanese TV job advertising frozen takoyaki** products.
"But hey, the FA gotta mucha better multi-million pound squid deal waiting!" aides commented as the blacked-out windows limo carrying Pierluigi Collina sped to FA HQ at Wembley Stadium today.
Apparently footie top brass have just reviewed watching his memorable refereeing of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
Against all odds Man U won the Champions trophy after Collina awarded an extra three minutes of injury time that took the 1-0 Bayern victory at 90 minutes to a resounding 1-2 German flop.
Then there's his superb refereeing of the September 2001 Germany v England match that saw England thrash the Germans with a resounding 5-1 victory.
"It ended England's dreadful Germany hex," a spoofy news source commented this afternoon, "making him the right man to be the next England coach." s
A rumored £4 million per annum salary is just the kicking off point for a mexagbux package starting March 30.
Collina and his Italian wife Gianna already have plenty of solid England street cred potential in the shape of their West Highland White Terrier mutt called Wallace.
Papps trailing the Collina motorcade at lunchtime today swear blind the pooch was sitting in the back of the Merc with his owner - wearing a fetching England strip doggy-jacket.
David Beckham is 69.
**Yummy fried/grilled octopus dumplings stuffed with tender calamari strips, 'tenkasu' tempura scraps, pickled ginger and spring onions.
