The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is about to announce Gennaro Gattuso as the new coach of the main national team after the departure of Luciano Spalletti. The information was confirmed on Saturday (14) by Gianluigi Buffon, head of the Italy delegation, during participation in the European Championship U21.
“We work, now we are waiting for the final details,” he told the state station RAI. “The president and the whole federation had intense days, but I believe that in the end we made the best choice.”
The change in the technical command takes place a few days after Spalletti announced his own departure, a day after the 2-0 win over Moldova – his last match ahead of the national team. The decision came in the wake of the 3-0 defeat to Norway, in the debut of the World Cup qualifiers, a result that pressed the coach and accelerated his departure after less than two years in office.
Gattuso, 46, is an emblematic name of Italian football. World Champion in 2006 as a player, he adds 73 matches for the national team and carries in the curriculum passages as a coach for, Napoli, Valencia and, more recently, Hajduk Split, from Croatia, where he left office in mutual agreement after a third place in the national championship.
The official appointment is expected to take place in the coming days. If it is confirmed, it will be Gattuso’s first experience in charge of the national team, in a decisive time for the reconstruction of Italy after irregular campaigns in the last international cycles.
