ROME (AP) — Win and you move on to the next challenge.
Manager Antonio Conte never seems to stay in one place for long, but now it looks like the fiery manager is ready to go naples Less than a year after coaching the Southern Club, 4th Serie A title.
Conte has been openly campaigning for Italy’s vacant post-war seat. Azzurri miss out on third consecutive World Cup appearance. Such a move would mark the return of Conte, who had already coached Italy in the European Championship 10 years ago.
“If I were the federation president, I would think about myself,” Conte said after Napoli’s 1-0 win over AC Milan on Monday. “I’ve already been on the national team and I know what it’s like.”
However, at present, italian football federation The president has only become a lame duck after Gabriele Gravina announced his resignation, and new elections have been called for June 22nd.
Gennaro GattusoHe also resigned after coaching the Italian national team, which lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup qualifying playoffs.
Meanwhile, Conte will be able to focus on Napoli’s late-season breakthrough that propelled Milan into second place with a trip to Parma on Sunday.
Still, Napoli are trailing Italian league leaders Inter Milan by seven points with seven matches remaining, and Conte does not expect them to win another title.
“It’s not a question of believing or not. It’s important to be realistic,” Conte said. “We have to be perfect, but Inter will have to make some mistakes. And from what we’ve seen, that seems unlikely because Inter are strong.”
If Conte were to leave Napoli, similar departures would follow at Bari (left immediately after winning Serie B in 2009), Juventus (left immediately after winning Serie A for the third consecutive time in 2014), Chelsea (left immediately after winning the FA Cup in 2018 and a year after winning the Premier League) and Inter (left immediately after winning Serie A in 2021) either immediately after the title or shortly after.
major matches
Inter travel to neighboring Como on Sunday in their shortest trip of the season.
Inter’s Appiano Gentile training center is located north of Milan, less than 20 kilometers (just over 10 miles) from Como’s Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. This is approximately half the distance from Appiano Gentile to San Siro.
Inter beat Como 4-0 in December, but Como held Inter to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals in Sinigaglia last month. The second match is scheduled for April 21st.
Inter defeated Roma 5-2 last weekend, marking their first win since February. Meanwhile, Como, led by Cesc Fabregas, have been unbeaten for almost two months and will be looking to defend their fourth place and final spot in the Champions League.
Featured players
Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu created one of the goals of the season against Roma with a 30 meter (yard) burst that went under the bar. This was his ninth goal and three assists in Serie A this season. Recently, he helped Turkey reach the World Cup for the first time since 2002.
Activity suspended
Juventus centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic, who has recently recovered from another muscle injury sustained in November, will be out for another three weeks with a calf muscle strain.
Vlahovic’s injury problems could affect his contract negotiations with Juventus, who have offered him a short-term extension at a reduced salary.
off the field
Asked for a solution to the national team problem, Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti proposed requiring all Serie A clubs to feature at least one Italian Under-19 player in their starting XI.
Spalletti was sacked as Italy coach last year after the Azzurri lost to Norway in their opening qualifying round.
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