The headlines this summer were Italy must recreate itself! In came the legend Paolo Maldini as sports director. He was supposed to save Italy and Pep Guardiola together with Carlo Ancelotti was the main target for the new national team manager.

Shock decision from Paolo Maldini – leaves the position after only 16 days

Presenting Roberto Mancini just five days after the bold plan to restart the Italian squad was presented by Paolo Maldini, via Pep Guardiola and Andrea Pirlo, sums up the Calcio crisis for Susy Campanale.

It is difficult to say whether Italian football is unwilling to change or simply completely incapable of it. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi spoke of the whole movement leaving a “bad impression” for the world, and immediately Giovanni Malagò began to poke at who had been the most embarrassing. The sad truth is that there is a blank layer of embarrassment we can easily vent over the whole sad bunch of them.

Mancini ready for Italy – after the collapse of the Pirlo deal

Roberto Mancini is ready to take over as Italy’s national team coach for the second time, after negotiations with Andrea Pirlo broke down. At the same time, Claudio Ranieri will be the new Sports Director

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) had previously tried to sign Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, but was rejected by both. Then they turned their attention to Andrea Pirlo, the former Azzurri midfielder who was ready to take over the job.

Kasper Høgh thanks for a possible trip with Bodø/Glimt

But the deal unraveled when it emerged that Pirlo has an affiliation with a Russian sports betting platform. This created strong political pressure on FIGC President Giovanni Malago, who eventually had to block the appointment.

Pirlo himself confirmed in a statement that he was informed on Sunday that he was no longer relevant for the position.

The Pirlo contract became too controversial

Pirlo is under contract with Dubai club United FC, and also serves as a global brand ambassador for Russian betting provider Fonbet. He himself emphasized that the collaboration was “purely commercial and sporting in nature”.

But after the FIGC management and Malago had reviewed the contract documents, they came to a different conclusion.

This also led to Paolo Maldini stepping down as technical director of the FIGC – just 16 days after he had taken up the role.

Mancini and Ranieri in – the farce will be cleaned up

Now the FIGC is trying to put an end to the chaos. They have looked to Roberto Mancini to save the situation and turn Italy’s fate around after another World Cup failure.

At the same time, Claudio Ranieri will take over as the new technical director, replacing Maldini. Ranieri turned down the opportunity to become coach in June last year, when Italy hired Gennaro Gattuso instead.

The 74-year-old Ranieri’s last job in football was as a special adviser to Roma – a role he left in April. Now he is making a sensational comeback in a key position in the FIGC, despite the fact that his coaching career with 20 different stops was apparently over.

Mancini to recreate the magic of 2021

Mancini left his job as coach of Qatari Al-Sadd earlier this year. He led Italy to European Championship gold in 2021, before stepping down as national team manager in 2023 after five years at the helm.

Now he inherits a team that came close to qualifying for the World Cup in North America – but ultimately lost on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European qualifying final.

Italy have now missed out on two World Cups in a row, and crashed out of Euro 2024 in the last eight after a penalty shootout drama against England at Wembley. In fact, Italy have not won a single knockout match in a major tournament since Mancini himself led them to their Euro triumph in 2021.

Tough start for Mancini

Mancini will not have an easy entrance in the job. His first match as reinstated national team manager will be against Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on September 25. Then Turkey and France await in the same tournament – in a long international break that will put Mancini’s new project to the test immediately.

One thing is for sure: The Italian Football Federation hopes that Mancini can recreate the magic – and that it won’t take as long this time.