On May 14, 2018, just a day after leaving Zenit, Roberto Mancini signed a two-year contract with the Italian national team, replacing Gian Piero Ventura, in which the Italians failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years. .
On May 28, 2018, Italy played their first match under Mancini, beating Saudi Arabia 2-1.
On October 10, Mancini quarters played a 1-1 draw with the Ukrainian national team in a friendly match, after which the Italians’ unbeaten streak began, which lasted until October 6, 2021 and amounted to 37 matches, which became a world record. The streak was interrupted by Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.
Italy qualified for Euro 2020 without dropping a single point and winning all 10 qualifying group matches. Due to the pandemic, the last game of the tournament was postponed to 2021. In the group, the team beat Turkey, Switzerland and Wales without conceding a single goal. Then they treated successively with Austria, Belgium and Spain. On July 11, 2021, the Italians beat England in the final on penalties, thus becoming double European champions.
Mancini’s resignation did not bode well, but it is impossible to call the results after the successful Euro 2020 victory.
In the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League, Italy qualified from the group with 12 points. In the semi-finals, Mancini’s wards lost to the Spanish national team and defeated Belgium 2-1 in the match for third place. As a result of the tournament, Italy became the UEFA Nations League bronze medalists.
After that, the Italians failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second time in a row, taking second place in their qualifying group and on March 24, 2022, sensationally losing to the national team of North Macedonia with a score of 0:1. After receiving some of the criticism, Mancini continued to work.
In the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League, Italy dropped out of the group again, but again lost in the semi-finals to Spain with a score of 1:2. In the match for third place, they defeated the Netherlands national team with a score of 3:2 and became the bronze medalists of the tournament again.
On August 13, 2023, the resignation of Roberto Mancini as head coach of the national team was announced.
“The resignation is my personal decision, taken for personal reasons. I am grateful to the president of the federation for the confidence, I thank all the players with whom I have worked during these five years. The victory in the European Championship will remain forever It’s a great honor,” Mancini said of his departure from the team.
One of the possible reasons is the rumor that Mancini will become the head coach of the Saudi Arabian national team in the near future. It should be noted that the negotiations on a three-year contract are entering their decisive phase.
Mancini’s successor has yet to be named. They will probably be an experienced specialist. Roberto himself in any case inscribed his name in the history of the national team both as a player and as a coach.
Yahya Hasanov, Athletistic
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Source: Sport
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
