The Albany Gazette - Italy hope for new dawn under Mancini

On Friday, the Azzurri begin their UEFA Nations League campaign against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

It will be Italy's first competitive match since a play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March sealed a humbling third consecutive failure to reach the World Cup.

The four-time world champions have been through something of a revolution since that grim night in Zenica.

Mancini, the architect of Italy's last major triumph at Euro 2020, is back as head coach, bringing a refreshed squad featuring plenty of young and untested players.

"We have to take the national team back to where it deserves to be," Mancini said on Monday.

"I'm here to win and I'm sure we'll enjoy some great moments."

Off the pitch, Claudio Ranieri and Gianfranco Zola have assumed roles as technical director and youth projects coordinator, respectively, while Milan-Cortina Olympics boss Giovanni Malago was elected as the new Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president in June.

This raft of changes came following widespread calls for root-and-branch reform of the Italian game in the wake of a qualifying calamity that ensured an entire generation has grown up without seeing their country at a World Cup.

But the road to get there was far from smooth.

Heads rolled after the defeat in Bosnia, with coach Gennaro Gattuso, delegation head Gianluigi Buffon and FIGC president Gabriele Gravina leaving.

When Malago became FIGC president, his first major move was to appoint AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini as technical director to oversee the hunt for a new coach.

- 'Love of my life' -

After being turned away by Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti, Maldini set his sights on Pep Guardiola.

"We went to meet him in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for an entire day. He was very tempted," Maldini told Corriere della Sera.

"He came very close to accepting. He even started writing line-ups down on sheets of paper."

Maldini insisted that "money was never an issue" and Guardiola's refusal came down to "exhaustion" after a decade-long spell with Manchester City ended this summer.

The next name on Maldini's list was his former team-mate Andrea Pirlo. However, Pirlo pulled out of the running when controversy erupted over his role as a global ambassador for a Russian betting company, something he insisted was "exclusively commercial and sporting in nature".

The Pirlo saga led to Maldini and his advisor Leonardo sensationally quitting after just 16 days in post.

Maldini subsequently explained that "the conditions of trust no longer existed" with Malago, who was left back at square one.

Mancini soon emerged as the chosen one and was appointed in July in what proved to be a divisive move.

While the 61-year-old's track record speaks for itself, his decision to step down as Italy coach in August 2023 and take a lucrative job with Saudi Arabia angered many Italians.

When Mancini's return was confirmed, Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport published an open letter accusing him of a "betrayal" and saying "apologies are not enough", while Sky Sport pundit Paolo Condo said his decision to "abandon the national team for a lavish payday" should have been a "road of no return".

Mancini immediately addressed these criticisms at his presentation.

"I'm very sorry. The Italy shirt was always very important to me. It was like losing the love of my life," he said.

Mancini's first squad underlined that a new era was underway, with nine new faces included in an intriguing 34-man selection.

Youngsters like Alessandro Romano and Eddy Kouadio were called, as well as players from outside Italy like Sporting Lisbon midfielder Issa Doumbia, Brentford's Michael Kayode and Nuernberg striker Mohamed Ali Zoma.

"I think it's right to have young players so we can get to know them directly, because that's the most important thing to have a very strong squad in the future," Mancini said.

"We have to be quick to understand who could be the players that could be with us for the next four years."

After hosting Belgium on Friday, Italy face Turkey twice, either side of a trip to Zinedine Zidane's France.

(L.Thomas--TAG)