Andrea Pirlo on the National Team: Bipartisan Criticism—Even Carlo Calenda Says No
Andrea Pirlo as head coach of the Italian national team seems to be uniting the Italian political scene in a way that few other issues have managed to do in recent times. The decision—which, incidentally, is not yet official—by the FIGC and Giovanni Malagò is, however, proving to be surprisingly “bipartisan” in a thoroughly negative way. Even before the coach from Flero is announced as the new head of the Azzurri, Carlo Calenda has joined those in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies who have contested the decision. “Anyone who promotes or has promoted Russia after 2022 should not hold national office,” declared the leader of Azione in a terse comment provided to Adnkronos.
The issue of Pirlo’s business ties with Russia was also explicitly raised by +Europa Representative Benedetto Della Vedova, who wrote on X: “One can only extend the warmest wishes to Pirlo and the Italian national soccer team. With one ‘but’: A few months ago, Pirlo made a decision that I find incomprehensible and wrong—that of becoming a global ambassador for Fonbet, Russia’s leading betting agency.” It should be noted that, once he assumes the role of head coach, Pirlo would immediately sever all ties with the Russian company.
As mentioned, the concerns from the political sphere span a decidedly broad spectrum. Senate President Ignazio La Russa, while expressing his esteem for Malagò, Leonardo, and Maldini, did not hide his skepticism in remarks to ANSA: “May God grant us the best. I’m a fan of Italy, and Pirlo was a great champion—but as a coach, he’s a leap into the unknown. After the media trial balloon with Guardiola, I wouldn’t want the mountain to have given birth to a mouse—the mouse named Pirlo. I thought the choice would be between Conte and Mancini.”
Sports Minister Andrea Abodi, speaking on ‘Sky,’ was also critical of how the negotiations with Guardiola were handled, going on to describe Pirlo as “a gamble”: “Gambles are always a risk, so we must also try to make choices that make logical sense, and only the field will ultimately decide whether this gamble is a forward-thinking choice, given that the agreement is expected to last four years.”
Complicating the picture further is the position of FIGC President Giovanni Malagò, described by *Corriere della Sera* as “tormented” by the decision. On the one hand, he had promised Maldini full input in the choice of coach; on the other, he is aware that any failure would reflect poorly on the federation’s presidency. Malagò reportedly would have preferred a coach with more experience and is well aware of the concerns expressed by the Lega Calcio, which had strongly pushed for Antonio Conte. In any case, it will be Malagò who gives the final green light to the new era for the Azzurri.
On the technical front, the project awaiting Pirlo is ambitious and long-term. According to the outline provided by Maldini and Leonardo, the new head coach will need to instill an attacking, possession-based playing philosophy—modeled after the World and European champion Spanish national team—which will then be implemented across all youth national teams. The team’s core players are expected to be Donnarumma, Bastoni, Dimarco, Tonali, Barella, and Francesco Pio Esposito up front, with the possibility of bringing back Federico Chiesa, whom the former playmaker has always held in high regard. The four-year contract, worth 1.5 million euros per season, sets the Nations League as the primary objective, with the debut scheduled for September 25 against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in a group that also includes France and Turkey.
