Roberto Mancini has resigned as coach of the Italy national football team. The FIGC has published the announcement of the coach’s resignation on its official website and is already working to find a replacement. The decision would have matured in the last few hoursbut the reasons for the early farewell would not yet be clear. The communication to the leaders of the federation would have arrived on Saturday evening. Unconfirmed rumors would like the origin of the break to be a situation of tension with his collaborator Alberico Evani, especially regarding Leonardo Bonucci’s last call-up to the national team. But these seemed to most to be surmountable reasons and in any case not such as to make him leave his position as coach of the national team, in the midst of qualifying for EURO 2024, and the subsequent 2026 World Cup.
Mancini’s greeting: “My personal choice”
Not even the words of the person concerned helped to clarify the situation. “Resigning as national coach was my personal choice”, Roberto Mancin with a post on Instagram. “I thank the federal president, Gabriele Gravina, for the trust, together with all the members of the FIGC. I greet and thank all my players and fans who have accompanied me in these 5 years. I will always carry the extraordinary victory of the 2020 European Championship in my heart “.
The announcement of the FIGC
❗️#Mancini has resigned as coach of the national team. The FIGC will evaluate the best option for the Azzurri
The statement 👉🏻 pic.twitter.com/Qe2dv5CY5x
— FIGC (@FIGC) August 13, 2023
“The Italian Football Federation announces that it has taken note of the resignation of Roberto Mancini from the position of coach of the Italian national team, received yesterday in the late evening”, it is stated. “Therefore, a significant page in the history of the Azzurri comes to an end, which began in May 2018 and ended with the 2023 Nations League Finals; in the middle, the victory at Euro 2020, a triumph conquered by a group in which all the individuals knew how become a team – continues the note -. Taking into account the important and close commitments for the UEFA 2024 qualifiers (10 and 12 September with North Macedonia and Ukraine), the FIGC will announce the name of the new national coach in the next few days”.
According to what is reported on the pages of Calciomercato.it the FIGC could be able to formalize the replacement already in the next few days. Given the imminent commitments, it is in fact urgent to find the new coach of the Azzurri. Italy will take the field for the EURO 2024 qualifiers on 9 September, and they will have to face Macedonia. Immediately afterwards, on 12 September, it will be the turn of the match against Ukraine.
The totonome for the new CT starts
Available would be Luciano Spalletti, fresh from the Scudetto with Napoli and resigning; Antonio Conte, away from Tottenham before the end of last season (for him it would be a return to the national team); or other former world champions with the national team such as Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso. But the list of potential coaches does not stop at the two strong candidates: Fabio Cannavaro, 2006 world champion with a career as a coach especially in China and a brief experience at Benevento in Serie B last year, also appears in the totonome, and Daniele De Rossi, collaborator of Mancini, also the protagonist of a brief and negative experience as Spal coach. There are even rumors, fueled by social media, of a possible Figc-Juventus agreement to bring Allegri to the blue.
Lotito: “Mancini’s resignation? They were in the air”
“They were in the air.” The president of Lazio and senator Claudio Lotito laconically comments on the resignation. On the reasons for the choice, he simply says he doesn’t know them and adds: “These are questions to ask the federal president”.
Sacchi: “I read and I didn’t think it was true”
“When I found out I didn’t believe it was true, I’m sorry. It’s the only thing I can say.” This is how Arrigo Sacchi, the former blue coach who surprisingly left his post after the ’96 European Championship, comments on Mancini’s surprise resignation.
Zoff: “I’m surprised, now we need a strong coach”
“I’m certainly surprised, a week ago everything was ok and he had become the manager of all the national teams and today he resigns. I really have no idea what could have happenedThis is how Dino Zoff, ex coach of the Italian national team, commented on the resignation of Roberto Mancini. a robust man,” he continued. “Spalletti? I don’t want to name names and it wouldn’t be correct to say it”, Zoff reiterated. Meanwhile, in a year, there will be the European Championships in Germany for which Italy must qualify to get there as reigning champion, but according to Zoff Italy will have to return to be “in the front row not only in Europe, but also in the world“.