Italy: Roberto Mancini quits as national team manager

Rome: It is the end of an era in Italy, with Roberto Mancini leaving his post as national team manager. A five-year spell in charge with the Azzurri that peaked with Euro 2020 glory has now come to an end. Mancini also led Italy on a record-breaking 37-match unbeaten run, but failure to qualify for the last two World Cups means his legacy is arguably tainted.

Roberto Mancini has resigned as Italy’s national-team manager, with the news confirmed in an official statement by the Italian Football Federation.

This marks the end of Mancini’s five-year tenure as Azzurri boss, which included a Euro 2020 triumph with victory over England in the final.

He also set a new world record at international level after overseeing a 37-match unbeaten run that spanned almost three years between October 10, 2018 and October 6, 2021.

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The statement read as follows: “The Italian Football Federation announces that it has taken note of the resignation of Roberto Mancini from the position of coach of the Italian national team, received late yesterday evening.

“Thus concludes a significant page in the history of the Azzurri, which began in May 2018 and concluded with the 2023 Nations League Finals; in between, the victory at Euro 2020, a triumph conquered by a group in which all the individuals have known how to become a team.

“Taking into account the important and close commitments for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers (10 and 12 September with North Macedonia and Ukraine), the FIGC will announce the name of the new national coach in the next few days.”

The Azzurri resume their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign next month, with matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine on September 10 and 12, respectively.

Italy have won one and lost one of their two qualifiers to date, after following up a 2-1 loss to England with a 2-0 victory over Malta.

After a mixed start to the campaign, Mancini has also endured a tough time off the pitch as well after the passing of friends Gianluca Vialli and Sinisa Mihajlovic this year.