Roberto Mancini will be the new coach of Italy. According to local media, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Giovanni Malagò, informed the federal council this Tuesday of his decision to return the bench of the national team to the coach who led the Azzurra to the Eurocup title in 2021. The contract signing is expected in the coming hours, and will put an end to one of the most turbulent coaching searches remembered in Italian football.
The choice of Mancini comes after a convoluted obstacle course in the search for the new coach, who must guide the reconstruction of the Azzurra, a four-time world champion team in decline that has missed the last three World Cups.
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At first, the FIGC approached Pep Guardiola, who declined the offer. At the same time, they also approached Carlo Ancelotti, who responded that he had no intention of leaving the Brazilian national team. Faced with these refusals, the federation’s technical director, Paolo Maldini, and his collaborator Leonardo bet on Andrea Pirlo, but his appointment ended up being frustrated due to the controversy generated by his commercial ties with the Russian betting company Fonbet. The case also led to the departure of Maldini and Leonardo from the federation, just a couple of weeks after taking office, according to the Italian press. Their departure left Giovanni Malagò alone, who was also recently elected president of the federation, forced to redirect a situation that threatened to worsen the sporting and institutional crisis of the Azzurra.
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