Roberto Mancini unexpectedly resigned in the middle of the European Championship qualifiers. The substitute was found spending a sabbatical year.
64-year-old Luciano Spalletti is Italy’s new head coach PDO
A week ago, the head coach of the Italian national football team Roberto Mancini announced his resignation. The Italian, who piloted his team to European Championship gold in 2021, worked at the helm of the national team for five years.
The European Championship was Mancini’s highlight with the national team, but the years also included two failures in the World Cup qualifiers. Italy did not make it to the World Cup in Russia or Qatar.
In the ongoing European Championship qualifiers, Italy is third in its group behind England and Ukraine. However, it has played only two games due to the final tournament of the League of Nations in June. The qualifiers will continue again in September, so the Italian Football Federation, surprised by the dismissals, announced that they would be looking for a replacement with a quick schedule.
A week after Mancini’s resignation announcement, Italy revealed a successor. He steps into the helm Luciano Spalletti, who coached Napoli to the overwhelming Italian championship last season. The coach who celebrated the Scudetto left the champion team to spend more time with his family, and coaching the national team is not as hectic as working in the club team.
Spalletti’s new employment contract does not please the champion club. According to Athletic, the chairman of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentiis demands compensation from the Football Association for acquiring Spallet, as the coach was basically reserved for them.
Coach Konkar had one year left on his Napoli contract. He was allowed to take a year’s sabbatical as a thank you for his exploits and to help his family, but he was not allowed to mix things up in the national team. Napoli does not accept a coach working during the sabbatical for any other team. At least not without monetary compensation.
Despite the resulting resentment, Spalletti starts his work immediately. There is plenty of time to prepare, as Italy would do well to win their September matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine in order to maintain a good position in the qualifying group.