Roberto Mancini has resigned from his position as the head coach of the national team in Italy.
The Italian soccer federation issued a short announcement saying that Mancini communicated his resignation “late last night,” adding that a new coach would be named “over the next days.”
Roberto Mancini at a press conference. Source: Getty
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said;
“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.”
Roberto Mancini with the Euro trophy. Source: Getty
Italy are third in their Euro 2024 qualifying group after losing to Gareth Southgate’s England in March. Their next fixtures are against North Macedonia on 9 September and the Ukraine on 12 September.
The resignation marks the end of Mancini’s five-year tenure as Azzurri boss, which includes a Euro 2020 triumph. In spite of winning the 2020 Euro, they failed to reach the 2022 World Cup after falling at the qualification stage.
Mancini 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.
It’s unclear what’s next for the 58-year-old Mancini who was a leading club coach before taking over the national team, having won league titles at both Inter Milan and Manchester City. Mancini was also a standout player for Sampdoria, Lazio and Italy.
