Italy boss Roberto Mancini has vowed to stay on as the head coach of Italy despite their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Italy was shocked 1-0 by North Macedonia and is set to miss out on their second consecutive World Cup. After failing to qualify for the last World cup, then manager Gian Piero Ventura was sacked and Mancini was appointed.
“We need to start again. I talked to the president, we’re in agreement on everything, we’ll have time to discuss what we need to improve,” Italy manager Roberto Mancini said. “I’m still young and I wanted to win a European Championship and a World Cup, we’ll have to wait for the second a little bit. I like this work and I know that with the players we can organize again something important. Apart from the disappointment, everything else is moving forward. We need to start again with a new cycle. We have important matches coming up. We will certainly introduce younger players already in June for the Nations League. I hope they will get experience in their club. That’s fundamental.”
“What the coach has given us in these three years is something unique. He has created an empathy that is rare to see at Coverciano (the Italy team’s headquarters),” Italy center-back Leonardo Bonucci said. “For us continuing with the coach is just the logical thing to do: his ideas, his human value is unquestionable. The result of a one-off match can change opinions, but those who live this every day only want to continue this path. It’s the right thing because he inherited Italy in a mess and he’s not just filling time in between jobs. He’s fully committed and has put his heart and soul into improving the team over the past couple of years.”
