Italy parted ways with manager Gennaro Gattuso on Friday, the country’s football federation (FIGC) said, after the national team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Italy lost Tuesday’s playoff final against Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties and the four-time champion has now missed out on three consecutive World Cups.
Gattuso’s departure came a day after FIGC president Gabriele Gravina resigned, with national team delegation head Gianluigi Buffon also stepping down from his role. “With a heavy heart, having failed to achieve the goal we had set ourselves, I consider my time in charge of the national team to be over,” Gattuso said in a statement.
“The Azzurri shirt is the most precious asset in football, which is why it is right to facilitate future technical assessments with immediate effect.
“It has been an honour to lead the national team, and to do so with a group of lads who have shown commitment and loyalty to the shirt.” Gattuso was appointed in June on a one-year contract, replacing Luciano Spalletti who was sacked following Italy’s 3-0 defeat by Norway in their opening group game, although he remained in place for the 2-0 win over Moldova the next day.
Italy won its next five group games under Gattuso, but given Norway’s far superior goal difference, it was resigned to another World Cup playoff before the final group game, which Norway won 4-1 at the San Siro.
Italy had lost at the playoff stage of the last two World Cups, but looked on course to make it this time after a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland in the semifinal, before it all fell apart in Bosnia.
Gattuso’s 10-man team let slip a 1-0 lead and crumbled in the penalty shootout.
Gattuso, 48, was a member of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning squad, but the country has failed to come anywhere close to replicating that success in the sport’s biggest tournament.
Italy won just one game over the next two editions, exiting at the group stage on both occasions. While there was a spark of recovery with its Euro 2020 triumph, its continued absence from the World Cup underlined its decline.
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and Napoli manager Antonio Conte are names being mentioned as Gattuso’s successor.
Conte has managed Italy, taking charge in 2014 and leading it to Euro 2016 where his last game was a loss on penalties to Germany in the quarterfinals, having already announced he would leave after the tournament.
Italy’s next game is a friendly in Greece on June 7, and it begins its Nations League campaign in September when it hosts Belgium.
