The Italian Football Association FIGC announced on Sunday afternoon that the 58-year-old Mancini submitted his resignation late Saturday evening. The association “took note” of this step. Mancini described his resignation on Instagram as a “personal decision”. He thanked those responsible for the association, his players and the fans. “It was an honor,” he wrote.
The timing of the step is very explosive: Mancini only gained more power within the association last week. In the future, he should not only make the nominations for the Squadra Azzurra, but also for the U20 and U21 of the country. The association justified this by saying that Mancini’s playing style should be “functionally integrated” and that “the same playing styles and playing systems should be used” in the U-national teams. His previous assistant coach Attilio Lombardo had been appointed U-20 head coach.
Mancini to become Saudi Arabia national team coach?
Italian media reported that Mancini has an offer from Saudi Arabia. According to “Gazzetta dello Sport”, the association of the desert state wants to sign Mancini as national coach. Mancini would succeed Herve Renard, who is in charge of Saudi Arabia’s selection at the 2022 World Cup but most recently took over the women’s national team of his home country France.
Mancini took over the Italian national team on May 14, 2018 and led to the European Championship title in 2021. However, the team then missed out on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar under his aegis. In 2023, Mancini made it to the semi-finals of the Nations League with the Squadra Azzurra. The reigning title holder started qualifying for the 2024 European Championship in Germany with a 2-1 defeat against England. In a total of 61 games under his reign, he has 39 wins, 13 draws and nine defeats.
The Italian association wants to announce a successor “in the coming days” – due to the “important and timely competitive games in the qualification”. They will now “evaluate the best option for the Azzurri”. “Sky Sports Italia” names Antonio Conte, who held the office from 2014 to 2016, as favorites for the post, and Luciano Spalletti, who left SSC Naples after winning the Italian championship and was actually aiming for a break. In less than a month, on September 9th, Italy will compete in the European Championship qualifier in North Macedonia, three days later the four-time world champions will play Ukraine at home.
