Former hard-taxing midfielder Gannaro Gattuso was named Italy coach on Sunday, the country already revived the Flaging World Cup qualifying expectations.
Gattuso replaced Luciano Spaletti, which was fired after losing his initial qualifier 3–0 in Norway after Italy last week, fearing that four-time champions would fail to qualify for the third straight World Cup.
Gattuso picked up one of those World Cups as a player in 2006.
Gabriel Grevina, president of the Italian Soccer Federation, said, “Gattuso is a symbol of Italian football, the blue shirt is like a second skin for him.” “His inspiration, his professionalism and his experience will be fundamental to face the best of the next matches of the national team.
“I know about the importance of the purpose we want to achieve, I thank him for the desire and total dedication with which he accepted this challenge.”
The Italian Football Federation was the top choice to replace Claudio Raniary Spelleti but turned down the proposal.
Gattuso’s last coaching job was in Hazuduk Split, but he left the Croatian Club with mutual consent at the beginning of the month only after a season in charge.
The 47 -year -old had first granted AC Milan, Napoli, Valencia and Marsile coaching.
We are one year away from 2026 FIFA World Cup. Fox Soccer
Check the one year kickoff to go to the 2026 FIFA World Cup celebrations!
As a player, Gatuso also won two league titles and two Champions League Trophy with Milan, where he scored 468 and scored 11 goals. His only target in 73 demonstrations for Italy was a 25-meter strike against England in 1–0 win in November 2000.
Gattuso’s only trophy as a coach was the Italian Cup with Napoli in 2010.
Italy is already nine points behind Norway in its World Cup qualifying group, although two matches have been played less than the leader of the group.
What was Azurri in the final match of Spanish with his disappointing inauguration with a 2–0 win over Mino Moldova last Monday. He had revealed that he was being fired the previous day.
Gattuso’s first match as Italian coach will be at home for Estonia on 5 September. Israel is also in five-team Group I.
Italy hosts Norway in the final round on 16 November. Only the group winners proceed directly to the 2026 tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The runner-up enters the playoff bracket to be played in the next March.
This was the phase where Italy was abolished by Sweden and North Macedonia and was dropped from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.
Gattuso will be presented at a news conference in Rome on Thursday.
Reporting by Associated Press.
Want to give the right stories for your inbox? Make or log in your Fox Sports Account And follow the league, team and players to get an individual newspaper daily!
Get more than FIFA men’s World Cup Follow your favorite to get information about sports, news and more
