The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
ZolacallsforItalymanager’sdepartureafterelimination
Former Italy international Gianfranco Zola says it is necessary for his country to replace boss Giampiero Ventura.
Ventura is fighting for his job after the Azzurri failed to reach the World Cup for the first time in 60 years following a play-off defeat against Sweden on Monday night in Milan.
Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio has called a meeting to discuss the country’s failure to qualify for next year’s tournament in Russia and the 69-yearold’s position will come under scrutiny.
Zola, who won 35 caps between 1991 and 1997, says Ventura’s time should be up.
“It will be necessary for him to go,” said Zola. “It’s a pity because he’s a good coach, he gets his teams playing good football but, in this case, as a national team coach, he cannot get the amount of time that is necessary to develop his football. It would be wrong to put all the pressure on the coach, all football in Italy needs to be regenerated and we need solutions to improve it.
“There men with
“We have to start restructuring our youth system and we need to improve the quality of players that we are producing.
“At the moment we are not producing a lot of quality are certainly very good credentials. and for a country like Italy, which has always been known for producing players, see that.”
Gianluigi Buffon was one of several key names to call time on their international careers, bringing the curtain down on his 175-cap stint after Monday’s goalless draw with Sweden, which saw them lose their qualifying play-off 1-0 on aggregate and meant that the four-time world champions would be absent from next year’s finals.
Zola said of the goalkeeper: “He has been an it is a pity to icon, he has been a fantastic ambassador for the whole country.
“It is sad to see such a player in tears like he was, that’s the nature of the game.
“Football has given him so much satisfaction, unfortunately this time, right at the end, he had the disappointment and I felt sorry for him in the end.”
It is the first time since 1958 that an Italian team has not qualified for a World Cup.