Return from the "Desert"

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The successful European Championship coach is returning to Italy!(Bild: AP/Frank Augstein)

Clarity at last! Roberto Mancini will be the new head coach of the Italian national soccer team. After weeks of chaos, the federation announced the decision on Tuesday.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Football Federation, announced Mancini’s appointment on Tuesday in Rome. The coach most recently spent three years working in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Now the 61-year-old is returning to his homeland to once again take the helm of the national team. 

Mancini previously held the position from 2018 to 2023 and led the “Azzurri” to the European Championship title in 2021. However, even under his leadership, the proud soccer nation failed to qualify for the World Cup!

It was utter chaos!
That’s set to change again in the future. Mancini is trusted to lead Italy back to more glorious days in soccer. That’s sorely needed. After all, not only did the team recently fail to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row, but there has also been major chaos within the federation in recent weeks.

The position of “Commissario Tecnico” had been vacant since early April. At that time, the previous national team coach, Gennaro Gattuso, was forced to resign after the four-time World Cup champions were eliminated by Bosnia and Herzegovina in World Cup qualifying. The intensive search for a successor began a few weeks ago. In recent days, however, the situation has descended into chaos.

Ranieri a Candidate for Technical Director Position
Just last Tuesday, Giorgio Chiellini dismissed speculation about a move to the Italian Football Federation as technical director. “I want to make it clear that I’m happy with my role at Juventus,” said the former national team player. The economics graduate works as a manager at his former club, Juventus Turin. Alongside Mancini, former AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri (74) is now set to become the new technical director.

Claudio Ranieri(Bild: APA/Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse)

Previous efforts to recruit star coach Pep Guardiola had come to nothing, as had those to bring in Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil). The alternative, Andrea Pirlo, was ruled out due to the former World Cup champion’s collaboration with a Russian betting provider. Following the failure to hire Pirlo, sports directors Paolo Maldini and Leonardo—who had been hired just over two weeks earlier—resigned.

Federation President in the Crosshairs of Criticism
Federation President Malago, who has also been in office for just over a month, has now come under fire. “Italy must be rebuilt,” commented *La Gazzetta dello Sport* on the events. The search for a coach was accompanied by a public exchange of barbs between Sports Minister Andrea Abodi and Malago. Abodi accused the federation president of making a “poor showing.” Malago countered that not everyone is in a position to judge the mistakes of others.

Mancini had previously served as national team coach from 2018 to 2023. However, his reputation at home continues to suffer to this day because three years ago, despite having an existing contract, he suddenly left to become the national team coach in Saudi Arabia—allegedly on a four-year contract worth 25 million euros per season. He stayed there, however, for only a little over a year. He then moved to Qatar to coach Al-Sadd.