MILAN (AP) – The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has held talks with former Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola and Brazil national team manager Carlo Ancelotti about taking over the federation. National team in crisis.
The Azzurri boss is still reeling from the fate of his manager, but hopes to announce a new Italy manager within the week. 3 consecutive failures To qualify for the World Cup.
Former Italy international and AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini was appointed as the federation’s new technical director earlier this month and attended a meeting with Serie A clubs on Thursday. Giovanni Marago new FIGC chairman and special advisor Mr. Leonardo.
Asked about Guardiola in a press conference after the meeting, Maldini said: “To be honest, I cannot give you any news about what is happening today. You have identified one of our targets.”
“I can’t hide the fact that before I spoke to Pep, I also spoke to Carlo Ancelotti. To be honest, it seemed right to start with the best players in the world, to check their general availability.”
Guardiola leaves Man City At the end of last season A 10-year spell filled with trophies There he established City as a European powerhouse and changed the face of English football.
Guardiola, 55, won 35 major titles during his career as a manager, including with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Maldini and Leonardo recently spent three days in Barcelona, where they spoke with Guardiola about becoming Italy’s manager.
“It would be best to announce a new manager this week, but we have to wait even longer for the person we really want,” Maldini said. “So there’s an urgency, but there’s not a lot of urgency for some of us.”
Ancelotti signed a contract extension with Brazil in May until the 2030 World Cup. But the five-time world champions had just suffered their worst ever performance on soccer’s biggest stage, losing 2-1 to Norway and being eliminated in the round of 16.
Ancelotti, 67, has won league titles in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany. He is also the only manager to have won the Champions League five times.
Four-time champions Italy were forced to resign after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs in March, missing out on a third consecutive World Cup appearance. FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and coach Gennaro Gattuso.
Coach Gattuso took over from coach Luciano Spalletti, who was fired in June of the previous year, but the team was already in a slump after losing to Norway in the opening qualifying round.
With former Italian national team coach Roberto Mancini, who led the Azzurri to the 2021 European Championship. antonio conte He is also one of the top candidates to coach the national team. Andrea Pirlo, who helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup as a player, is also reportedly in contention.
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