"They want the puppet": Claudio Gentile demolishes the FIGC

Former Italy Under-21 coach Claudio Gentile caustically commented on the crisis in Italian soccer in an interview with Fanpage.it. “There was someone who overnight intervened saying that Gentile should not be there anymore. Yet six, seven guys who were with me two years after the European Championships won the World Cup with the senior national team,” Gentile claimed.

Gentile explained how the pressures were overwhelming even in his time: “A coach must have the courage to choose who really deserves it. I used to get constant phone calls suggesting that I should call Titius or Caius, but I answered that they were all under observation and I chose only those who deserved it.”

“Maybe that’s also why I found myself a lot of enemies. While making results. The Olympic medal, winning the European Championships, and two years later six, seven guys who were with me on the team become world champions…I don’t want to say that it’s only and all my merit but at least a little bit, yes.”

“If you have sound principles, in situations like that, you can’t do anything but stay out. Or you have to be a puppet and let them boss you around. Is this the same thing that happened to Roberto Baggio? Yes.”

Young Italians fail to impose themselves: “The economic factor weighs heavily, foreign players often cost less than Italians. Let’s be clear, I’m not against having players who come from other countries but at least let’s set a limit number. I live in Como and here we have the Serie A team composed of almost all foreigners. This worries me and I say to myself, where do we go from here? If all these foreigners come, how do we create the national teams of the future?”