\n<\/p>\n
\t\t<\/p>\n
Luciano Spalletti will no longer be Italy\u2019s coach after tomorrow\u2019s World Cup Qualifiers game against Moldova. He announced it himself during today\u2019s press conference ahead of the match, highlighting that he was relieved of his duties by the Italian Football Association (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, Spalletti almost broke in tears and left the press conference room.<\/p>\n
Spalletti\u2019s position was at risk after Italy shockingly fell 0-3 to Norway on Friday night in their qualifiers opening game. The Azzurri<\/em> managed to record only one shot on target during the game.<\/p>\n Spalletti announced that he was sacked as soon as the presser started: \u201cLast night, I spent some time with President Gravina and he communicated to me that I will be relieved of my duties as the Nazionale head coach after the game against Moldova. I am sorry about that. I was not planning to say anything and I would have preferred to stay where I am to keep doing my job, like I have always done in my career. But, I was sacked, and I must take note of that.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI always saw this role as a service to my Country and I will facilitate the Nazionale\u2019s future in any way I can. This means that I will agree to terminate my contract after tomorrow\u2019s game. I will be paid until tomorrow, then I won\u2019t be paid anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Spalletti went on to elaborate about his experience with the Azzurri<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cI always stated that our players are strong and I confirm that. I got all the support I needed from our Football Association to make the choices that I wanted, but the results didn\u2019t come. I would have continued on this same path. To win, and to win well tomorrow, would surely be important to open the new cycle in the best possible way.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow, I will ask my players to\u00a0 show what I always asked them, even though, during my tenure, I didn\u2019t manage to get the best out of all of them. During my tenure, I saw many players toned-down.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He then added:<\/p>\n I\u2019m disappointed because I didn\u2019t manage to get the best out of my players and reach the quality level that I wanted. <\/em>I\u2019m disappointed with myself. I knew that, with coaching the Nazionale, there were going to be difficult moments, things to solve (\u2026)<\/em>\u00a0but I was sure we would qualify to the World Cup.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI know that, with these results, I created some problems to the Italian footballing movement and I am sorry about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Spalletti then invited the press to move on and talk about tomorrow\u2019s game. After a few more minutes, while answering negatively to a question about whether he felt betrayed by anybody, he stood up and, almost with tears in his eyes, left the conference room.<\/p>\n Luciano Spalletti became the head coach of Italy in September 2023 after Roberto Mancini\u2019s abrupt exit. He led Italy for 23 games, and collected 11 wins. He was in charge at Euro 2024, which ended with the Azzurri<\/em>\u2018s elimination in the Round of 16 after a dismal performance vs Switzerland.<\/p>\n Italy seemed to be making some progress and had an encouraging start in the Nations League. However, in the last four games, the Azzurri<\/em> collected three losses and one draw, conceding 11 goals. Last Friday\u2019s loss in Oslo, which will make Italy\u2019s path towards the 2026 World Cup much harder, put the last nail in the former Napoli coach\u2019s coffin.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
\n <\/td>\n Follow us on Google News<\/span> for more updates on Serie A and Italian football<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n