The talisman that Spalletti will bring to the Italian bench

When Luciano Spalletti he was 11 years old, he asked his mother to sew a “giant” Italian flag to celebrate the Azzurri’s 4-3 victory over West Germany in the semi-finals of the 1970 World Cup, a game that has since dubbed as ‘Party of the Century’. “Today I will take that flag to the bench of the national team”, said Spalletti this Saturday in his presentation as the new coach of the Azzurri.

“I want to create that dream for thousands of kids. It’s really an indescribable feeling,” added Spalletti, 64, who led Napoli to the Serie A title last season and was accepted unexpectedly by the resignation of Roberto Mancini last month. Arabian national team.

Spalletti, whose attacking tactics at Napoli won praise across Europe, left the southern club after the title, saying he wanted to take a sabbatical. But when the Italian soccer federation called him to offer him a position in the national team, he didn’t hesitate: When Spalletti left Napoli, he signed a document that included a clause of 3 million euros that he would have to pay if he returned he is at work. for a year.. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis insists that the amount should be paid now, but the FIGC refuses because it believes that Napoli and Italy are not competition. Spalletti said he hoped the matter would “end positively for both parties”, adding that “lawyers are working on it”.

Mancini won the European Championship in 2021 but did not qualify for the World Cup the following year. “It’s useless to hide with a little disappointment,” federation president Gabriele Gravina said of Mancini’s departure. As for Spalletti, Gravina said: “Luciano dedicated his whole life to everything he loved: his family, his country and football.”

Italy will face North Macedonia and Ukraine in Euro qualifiers on September 9 and 12, respectively. The Azzurri have three points from their first two games in Group C, behind England and Ukraine.