Trending:

UPDATE: Roberto Mancini CONFIRMED As Coach Of Saudi Arabia National Football Team

By Chris King • Updated: 28 Aug 2023 • 1:36

Image of Roberto Mancini.

Image of Roberto Mancini. Credit: Biser Todorov/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

UPDATE: Monday, August 28 at 1:30 am

ROBERTO MANCINI was officially unveiled as the new head coach of Saudi Arabia’s national men’s team this Sunday, August 27.

The former Italian national manager was welcomed on social media in a video that was captioned: ‘A born winner, a history maker, a legend of the game.  ‘Buongiorno’ coach! Welcome to Saudi Arabia’. A presentation ceremony will be held later this Monday to officially present him as the new manager.

https://twitter.com/SaudiNT_EN/status/1695872619537486095?s=20

Mancini tweeted the same video, writing: ‘I am excited to announce that I am joining the Saudi Arabia Football Federation as Head Coach of the National Team. I am delighted and honoured to have been selected for such a prestigious role, as a sign of appreciation and recognition for all the work done during these years’.

———————————————————————

UPDATE: Monday, August 14 at 4:20 pm

JUST one day after shocking his bosses at the Italian Football Federation by announcing his resignation, Roberto Mancini is reportedly in advanced talks to take over as boss of the Saudi Arabian national team.

According to Kaven Solhekol at Sky Sports, the Italian had been top of their list to become the next potential manager. He tweeted: ‘Saudi Arabian Football Federation in advanced talks for Roberto Mancini to become national team manager. His name has been number one on their list of targets. Mancini resigned as Italy head coach yesterday’.

———————————————————–

Sunday, August 13 at 10:16 pm

IN shock football news, Roberto Mancini has quit as coach of the Italian men’s team.

The news was broken earlier this Sunday, August 13, by Fabrizio Romano, the respected football transfer expert. In a tweet, he wrote: ‘BREAKING: Roberto Mancini has left Italian national team with immediate effect. Mancini and Italian Federation agreed to part ways, 10 months before Euro 2024′.

The Italian Football Federation announced Mancini’s departure in a post shortly afterwards. A translation of the FIGC tweet simply read: ‘❗️#Mancini has resigned as manager of the national team. The FIGC will evaluate the best option for the Azzurri. The press release 👉🏻 http://tinyurl.com/2hdvdwsj’.

The FIGC released a statement

An official statement on the FIGC website read: ‘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’.

It continued: ‘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 statement concluded.

Mancini led Italy to Euro 2022 victory

During his five-year tenure as national team coach, the 58-year-old former Manchester City manager led Italy to victory in the 2020 European Championships. His team needed a penalty shootout to eventually defeat Gareth Southgate’s England in the final at Wembley.

Mancini took charge after caretaker manager Luigi Di Biagio left the position after Italy – having previously not missed a World Cup finals since 1958 – failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in Russia.

Between October 2018 and October 2021, the former Sampdoria and Italy midfielder subsequently guided the Azzurri to a record-breaking 37-match unbeaten run.

Incredibly though, a 1-0 home defeat by North Macedonia in the play-offs meant that the Italians again missed out on the 2022 Qatar World Cup tournament. The pressure was really on him from that moment.

Italy are currently third in their Euro 2024 group

With Italy currently lying third in their Euro 2024 group after losing to England in March, things are not looking too healthy for whoever is appointed as Mancini’s successor. Ironically, one of their matches is against North Macedonia on September 9. Then on September 12, they face Ukraine.

The sudden announcement by the FIGC would suggest that Mancini took them by surprise and that no replacement had even been considered up to that point.

Who will replace Mancini?

Gianluca Di Marzio and Sky Sports Italia are of the belief that there are two likely candidates for the vacant job. They named Antonio Conte – who previously coached the national team from 2014 to 2016 – as one, along with Luciano Spalletti.

Conte is currently out of work after leaving Tottenham. The former Chelsea and Inter Milan coach famously said after he resigned as the boss of Italy in 2016: ‘I don’t deny there were moments when I’d have liked to have the opportunity to continue’. He later admitted though that he left because he: ‘wanted to return to the cut and thrust of club football’.

Last season, Spalletti guided Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years and then resigned. He walked away from the club claiming he was emotionally burned out and it is thought that a clause was inserted in his exit agreement that stated he would spend one year out of football. Whether this would apply to the national team is not known.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

Comments

Continue Reading