&w=3840&q=100)
Italy fires Spalletti amid prospects of not qualifying for 3rd straight WC
The fear that four-time champion Italy will fail to qualify for a third straight World Cup has cost coach Luciano Spalletti his job.
Spalletti announced Sunday that he is being fired and will leave after Monday's World Cup qualifier against Moldova.
The move comes two days after Italy lost 3-0 at Norway in its opening qualifier.
"Last night I had a conversation with the president (Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina) and he told me that I would be fired," Spalletti said in a pre-match news conference at Italy's training center.
"I didn't have any intention on (leaving) and I would have preferred to stay on. But it's a sacking and I realize that." Claudio Ranieri, who just concluded a successful season at Roma but had said he was retiring from coaching, is reportedly the federation's top choice to replace Spalletti.
But the federation did not immediately name a replacement and after the Moldova game, Italy doesn't play again until September.
Spalletti was hired in August 2023 when Roberto Mancini unexpectedly left to take over Saudi Arabia's national team. Spalletti was given a three-year contract through the 2026 World Cup.
Spalletti's first major tournament ended with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Switzerland in the round of 16 of last year's European Championship.
Then Italy was eliminated from the Nations League quarterfinals after conceding an embarrassing goal to Germany earlier this year which meant that the Azzurri entered a five-team World Cup qualifying group featuring Erling Haaland's Norway instead of a four-team group in which the highest-ranked nation is Slovakia.
Winning the group is the only way to ensure direct qualification to next year's tournament in North America. The second-placed team goes into the playoffs, the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.
Having started qualifying late, Italy has zero points and trails group leader Norway by nine points.
What's more, key defender Francesco Acerbi the center back who was supposed to mark Haaland turned down the callup for the Norway and Moldova matches.
I've always taken on this job as a service to the nation and I will do everything I can to help the future of the national team, Spalletti said.
I'll come to a contract resolution after tomorrow night. I had all the support possible concerning the choices I wanted to make. But the results didn't come.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
44 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Italian duo Errani and Paolini win French Open women's doubles final
Olympic gold medallists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini won the French Open women's doubles title for the first time. The second-seeded Italian pair, runners-up at Roland-Garros last year, beat Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 on Sunday. It was Errani's second French Open doubles title, and her sixth at a major tournament. The 38-year-old previously formed a highly succesful partnership with Roberta Vinci, also winning trophies at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open. 'It's tennis, we never stop, every day,' Errani said. 'You just try to be focused every day, and maybe you are not enjoying 100 percent what is happening, because you cannot stop and feel it. But right now, I feel it, and I am trying to realize what we are doing is so big. Winning a Grand Slam is the best thing in the world.' No other Italians had won the women's doubles at Roland Garros since Errani teammed with Vinci in 2012. Errani won two titles in Paris this year, also claiming the mixed doubles title with Andrea Vavassori. Paolini is also an accomplished singles player and was runner-up at the clay-court Grand Slam last year, losing to Iga Swiatek in the final. 'You are really an inspiration for me,' Paolini told Errani. 'It's great to have you in my team and sharing these moments with you, it's something special. You are a legend, for me.'
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
"The wait was worth every second": Rinku Singh gets engaged to Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj in Lucknow
ANI 09 Jun 2025, 02:27 GMT+10 Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 9 (ANI): Indian cricketer Rinku Singh and Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj got engaged in a ceremony in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow on Sunday. The southpaw posted on his official Instagram handle. 'This day has been in our hearts for so long - almost three years - and the wait was worth every second Engaged - with full hearts and a forever to go. ' Indian batter Rinku Singh and Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj held a grand engagement ceremony today, which had many political leaders and cricketers. Since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, Rinku has become a regular in the format but has yet to earn a spot in the ODI format. Rinku has featured in two ODIs for India and holds pretty impressive List-A numbers. The southpaw has garnered 1,899 runs in 52 innings, averaging 48.69 while striking at 94.8. His excellent numbers include one hundred and 17 half-centuries. In 33 T201 matches and 24 innings, Rinku has scored 546 runs at an average of 42.00 and a strike rate of 161.06, with three half-centuries. He's yet to smash his maiden T201 century. The 27-year-old made his T201 debut against Ireland in 2023. Rinku has been one of the main players for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has played 59 matches in the T20 tournament and scored 1099 runs at a strike rate of 145.20. He slammed four half-centuries in the cash-rich tournament. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Tennis-Sinner's dad too busy with work to attend record-breaking French Open final
PARIS, - World number one Jannik Sinner was part of the longest French Open final when he lost in five sets to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday but his dad was not there to witness it because he was at work, the Italian said. The marathon match lasted five hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest French Open final since tennis turned professional in 1968 and the second longest in Grand Slam history. "My dad was not here because he was working today," Sinner, who hails from a German-speaking Alpine region in northern Italy told a press conference. "Nothing of our success changes in the family." His father works as a chef in the mountains. Sinner had a full box for support, with his team of coaches as well as his mother, who was seen welling up and being extremely nervous as her son wasted three match points in the fourth set. "It was nice to see my mom here. And yeah, I guess my dad, he was watching on TV - if he finished work. It's okay." The Italian top seed wasted three match points at 5-3, 40-0 up in the fourth set and was also 6-5 up in the decider, before Alcaraz clawed his way back in dramatic fashion to win the title for the second year running. "So we are just very simple family, you know," he said.
