It ended not with a bang but a whimper.
Luciano Spalletti had asked his Italy side to deliver a rousing win to end his reign as manager and was delivered a 2-0 victory over Moldova he described as a ‘struggle’.
The 66-year-old stunned a press conference on Sunday when he revealed that he had been sacked after his side lost 3-0 to Norway in a World Cup qualifier on Friday.
The Italian, who eventually stormed out of the news conference, has been in charge since 2023 and led the team at Euro 2024 where Italy were knocked out in the last 16 by Switzerland.
Italy have failed to qualify for the past two World Cups and, believing something had to change before it was too late, the Italian FA ended Spalletti’s tenure.
After goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Andrea Cambiaso won Italy’s first points of the qualification campaign (albeit only two games in), Spalletti admitted that he ‘did not make the difference’ as national boss but insisted bad luck was partly to blame.
Luciano Spalletti’s spell as Italy manager ended with an uninspiring 2-0 win over Moldova
Giacomo Raspadori fires in Italy’s first goal to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time
Andrea Cambiaso, who scored Italy’s second goal, was full of praise for his departing manager
‘It’s true, we struggled tonight too,’ Spalletti told RAI Sport.
‘I maintained this group, but I found them really fatigued at this stage of the season. Perhaps seeking someone in better physical shape might’ve helped, but the fact we have 25 players all a bit like this means the campaign really took it out on everyone.
‘One of the biggest problems was playing the very first game, the most difficult of the group in Oslo, right at the end of the season. It’s bad luck with the draw.
‘This will be a very different team in much better shape come September, so the timing didn’t help us.’
The Italian FA now have three months to get a new coach in place before September’s qualifiers against Estonia and Israel.
Claudio Ranieri, the man who masterminded Leicester’s Premier League triumph in 2016, and 2006 World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro are among the early favourites to take over.
But Spalletti warned that his successor would not have any easy task.
‘We certainly are not leaving my successor a sense of enthusiasm, despite the positive response from the fans. The coach has to make the difference, the players have to make the difference, and unfortunately I did not make the difference,’ he added.
Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup triumph, is also in the running
Italy and PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma expressed his sadness at Spalletti’s departure
Cambiaso, who scored Italy’s second goal in Reggio Emilia and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma both expressed their sadness at the departure of their manager.
‘We all wanted a good performance. We are the first to know it wasn’t a great game, we wanted to give the coach a better send-off,” Cambiaso said.
‘We are professionals, unfortunately these things happen in sport. Spalletti is a great coach, has such passion for the sport, and every time a coach is fired, it hurts the players. We feel really sad.’
While Donnarumma added: ‘It has not been easy, we created a bond with the coach and his staff that goes beyond football.’
