Mancini is getting a tune out of the Azzurri
ITALY believe they are on the right track back to the top.
That is the implication of the decision to extend coach Roberto Mancini’s contract just before he named his preliminary squad. Already contracted until 2022, his tenure has been extended until 2026.
“It’s an announcement we’ve been working on for some time, a project needs time to be completed, we wanted to continue the work that has been done in the last three years,” said Italian federation president Gabriele Gravina.
Italy had a 100 per cent record in qualifying, scoring 37 and conceding only four in their 10 wins, although that was massaged by 6-0 and 5-0 wins over Liechtenstein and a 9-1 hammering of Armenia. A glance through the squads for their four World Cup triumphs throws up some of the greatest names in the game’s history. 1934 and 1938: Giuseppe Meazza, Giovanni Ferrari. 1982: Claudio Gentile, Marco Tardelli, Franco Causio, Paolo Rossi. 2006: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Inzaghi.
The current squad has few names of that calibre – yet. Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have been great defenders, both with more than 100 caps, but they are aged 36 and 34 respectively. On the creative side, much will depend on PSG playmaker Marco Verratti.
Mancini’s task has been made no easier by a fallow period for the Italian club game. In the past 11 Champions League finals, two Juventus defeats are the only Italian appearances. In the Uefa Cup/Europa League it is even worse – Inter’s loss to Sevilla last year is, the only Italian final appearance this century.