Italy set for dismal pre-World Cup friendly with a'other disappointment

Italy is trying to turn over a new leaf after the painful exclusion from the World Cup, the third consecutive for the Azzurri who last participated in the rainbow event now 12 years ago. The national team will return to the field in June and will be totally renewed: the new technical commissioner has yet to be decided, as Gennaro Gattuso’s farewell is now a foregone conclusion, but the opponent has already been chosen.

Italy will face Greece next June 7, at the Pankritio stadium in Crete. This was made official by the Athens Federation, which announced that the Hellenic national team will face the Azzurri on June 7 and Sweden on June 4 of the same month. Like Italy, Greece also failed to secure a World Cup pass. In June there may already be a new coach on the bench of the national team: in recent days the names of Antonio Conte, Roberto Mancini, Stefano Pioli and others have been mentioned.

In the meantime, two days after the debacle, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and head of delegation Gianluigi Buffon resigned: “”Now that President Gravina has chosen to take a step back, I feel free to do what I feel as an act of responsibility, because, although I sincerely believe that I have built so much at the level of spirit and group with Rino Gattuso and all the collaborators, in the very little time available to the national team, the main objective was to take Italy back to the World Cup. And we did not succeed. It is right to leave to those who will come after the freedom to choose the figure they will consider best to fill my role,” said the former Juventus goalkeeper.

“I asked for and obtained the inclusion of a few, important figures with strong experience, who together with the skills already present, are creating these necessary changes with a medium- and long-term vision. This is because I believe in the policy of meritocracy and specialization of tasks. It will be up to those in charge to judge the goodness of these choices. I carry everything in my heart, with gratitude for the privilege and teaching that, even in the painful epilogue, this intense experience leaves me. Forza Azzurri always.”