New Italy coach wanted
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As expected, Italy’s repeated failure to qualify for the World Cup has cost national coach Gennaro Gattuso his job. The 48-year-old resigned as head coach of Squadra Azzurra after less than a year. Gattuso, who was a player when Italy last won the title at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, drew the conclusions from the 4-1 penalty shoot-out defeat in the playoff duel with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday evening. This meant that the four-time world champion missed qualifying for a World Cup for the third time in a row.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have not achieved our set goal that I consider my time as national coach to be over,” Gattuso was quoted as saying in the press release on the separation: “The Azzurri jersey is the most valuable asset in football, which is why it is right to set the course for future assessments right from the start.”
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Gattuso’s departure had been expected for days. There is already heavy speculation in Italy’s newspapers about his successor. The list ranges from former national coach Roberto Mancini to Antonio Conte, Massimiliano Allegri and even Pep Guardiola, who is under contract with Manchester City. The former midfielder Gattuso had a points average of 2.25 in eight games with six wins from eight games, which is the second best rate of all national coaches with at least six games on the sidelines behind Vittorio Pozzo – but the Italians under Gattuso did not win the decisive game.
Association head Gabriele Gravina and sports director and former world-class goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had previously resigned from their positions. According to a statement, the successor at the top of the association will be decided on June 22nd – i.e. during the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. In 2010 and 2014 the Italians were eliminated in the preliminary round. They didn’t even take part in 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar after failing to qualify.
“I would like to thank Gattuso once again,” explained Gravina, who is also leaving office, “because he is not only a special person, but also made a valuable contribution as a coach and managed to rekindle enthusiasm for the national team in just a few months. He gave the players and the whole country a great sense of pride in the Azzurri jersey.”
