A lengthy press conference marked Roberto Mancini's return as coach, flanked by FIGC president Giovanni Malagò and Claudio Ranieri, the FIGC's new technical director and president of Club Italia. It was expected that Mancini would speak before answering reporters' questions. He expressed regret at leaving the national team, which he led for five years and with which he won the European Championship in the summer of 2021, to take over as coach of Saudi Arabia. It was August 13, 2023, and the year before, Italy had failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the second time. Three years ago, there were no signs he would resign, having sent the resignation via certified email to then-president Gravina. Mancini explained that he would have liked to have a face-to-face meeting with him. He used a metaphor to compare the national team jersey to the woman of his life, thus recognizing he had been given a second chance to lead Italian football back to where it deserves to be. Starting from the 61 benches, second only to Pozzo and Bearzot, and the 37 games without defeat between October 2018 and July 2021, a record broken by Spain in the victorious World Cup final against Argentina.
“"I'll try to field a team that can replicate what the national team did a few years ago. The goal is to play well, so that the fans fall in love with the team and can forgive me. We've now signed a four-year contract; I hope to win a trophy, or even two, and stay afterward." His thoughts turn to talent, starting with those discovered and launched. Mancini hopes that young players will be given more and more credit, even in other leagues. But it will also be important for the Under-21, Under-20, Under-19, and Under-18 teams to adopt the same playing system.
At the press conference, Malagò echoed the praise expressed by former Italian FA president Gravina and Gianluigi Donnarumma for the choice of Mancini and Ranieri: "It was a perfect choice, it was exactly what the team and I wanted," the goalkeeper told him. Malagò added that he, along with Mancini and Ranieri, feels the weight of responsibility, partly due to the team's failure to qualify for the last three World Cups. "It's been twenty years since we played a knockout match at the World Cup: this is quite sobering." Malagò revealed that Claudio Ranieri gave him an enthusiastic response when he proposed the job to Roberto Mancini.
Roberto Mancini's return to the national team bench is scheduled for September 25th at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome for Italy vs. Belgium, the Azzurri's opening match in the fifth edition of the Nations League: "The Nations League League A groups are all made up of top national teams, including ours. They will be important matches, and we'll be able to immediately assess our strengths. It will be a difficult group for us, but also for the other teams." The medium- to long-term goals are qualification for the next European Championship and, above all, the 2030 World Cup. Starting by doing well in the Nations League.
