The dream of having a big name like Pep Guardiola as the next head coach of the Italian National Team seems to have lasted only a few hours. The announcement by the FIGC president Giovanni Malagò of Paolo Maldini as the new technical director of the Azzurri, along with that of Leonardo as his personal “advisor,” is opening the way to every hypothesis for the bench of a team that has missed three consecutive World Cups. And the odds change day by day, perhaps even faster.
The natural favorites seemed to be Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte. The former, who won the European Championship with Italy in 2021 only to break away traumatically in August 2023, attracted by the rain of money in the desert (first coach of Saudi Arabia, then of Al-Sadd in Qatar) is free just like Conte, who terminated his contract with Napoli. The Lecce native also already coached the National Team for two years, between 2014 and 2016, leading them to the European Championship. Excluding Carlo Ancelotti (coach of the disappointing Brazil seen at the last World Cup, and already heavily criticized by the Brazilian press but tied to the Brazilian Football Federation by a golden contract), they are the most prestigious names available to the FIGC. Alongside, as mentioned, Guardiola: the former wizard of tiqui-taca left Manchester City after a long and successful cycle. His career speaks for itself, but at the highest levels of the Football Federation there are some doubts about his ability to transform from a field man (moreover, a daily hammer) into a selector, a man of the locker room and relationships.
Therefore, room for a new and in some ways sensational candidacy: according to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Andrea Pirlo is rapidly climbing the ranks, much appreciated by Maldini and Leonardo who shared many years with him at Milan, as teammates and executives. Leo, when he was at PSG, also wanted to bring him to France. However, his coaching experiences are not impressive: a debut season at Juventus in 2020/21, as a “predestined,” ended with a fourth place and victories in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa, but also many shadows that led to his dismissal. Then Turkey, at Fatih Karagümrük, and Sampdoria in Serie B, both experiences ending with a sacking.
Today he coaches United FC in Dubai, just promoted to the top division of the United Arab Emirates. Not exactly the top, in short, yet according to the Gazzetta Maldini and Leo see in him “what the leadership of the National Team aiming to rediscover the world in 2030 must embody: deep knowledge of the Italian landscape, courage, ideas, spirit.” Very true for Pirlo the player, perhaps a bit less so for Pirlo the coach: by the end of the week it will be known whether the future of the National Team will be marked by a safe bet (hopefully) or a risky gamble.
