Ranieri turns down Italy job to stay on at Roma as senior advisor
Ranieri turns down Italy job to stay on at Roma as senior advisor
MILAN - Claudio Ranieri said on Tuesday he has turned down the vacant Italy manager's job, after the four-times world champions sacked Luciano Spalletti, and will stay on with AS Roma as their senior advisor.
Former Napoli coach Spalletti, 66, announced his own dismissal on Sunday following Italy's 3-0 drubbing by Norway in their opening World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Ranieri, who recently retired for a second time after his spell at Roma last season, said he was honoured to have been offered the job by Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina.
"I thank President Gravina for the opportunity, a great honour, but I have reflected and decided to remain available to Roma in my new position totally," he told Italian news agency ANSA.
"The Friedkins (Roma owners) gave me their full support and backing for whatever decision I had made regarding the national team but the decision is mine alone."
Ranieri helped Roma finish fifth in Serie A last season to qualify for the Europa League. The 73-year-old Italian has been replaced by former Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
England stunned by Senegal to put Thomas Tuchel under immediate pressure
England stunned by Senegal to put Thomas Tuchel under immediate pressure LONDON – England slumped to a 3-1 home friendly defeat by Senegal on June 10 to ramp up the scrutiny on boss Thomas Tuchel one year out from the 2026 World Cup. Goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly inflicted England's first-ever defeat against African opposition at Nottingham Forest's City Ground after Harry Kane had given the hosts an early lead. Tuchel was scathing in his criticism of his side's dreary display in beating minnows Andorra just 1-0 in World Cup qualifying on June 7. The German, who was appointed with the task of ending England's wait since 1966 for a major tournament win, suffered his first defeat in four games in charge. 'We need to see the players under these kinds of conditions against one of the top 20 teams in the world to be smarter,' he said. 'We don't go next week to the World Cup. We go in one year.' Tuchel responded by making 10 changes, with Kane the only player to retain his place. It took just seven minutes for the Bayern Munich striker to maintain his record of scoring in every game – and his 73rd international goal – since Tuchel took charge. Dean Henderson was given a rare chance to impress in the England goal as Jordan Pickford was relegated to the bench. The Crystal Palace stopper made impressive saves from his club teammate Sarr and Idrissa Gana Gueye. But he was helpless when Sarr made the most of a lack of concentration from Kyle Walker to meet Nicolas Jackson's cross and fire into the bottom corner. England had never lost to African opposition in 21 previous matches but Senegal had been beaten just once from open play since losing to the Three Lions at the 2022 World Cup. 'Not good enough. We had moments, but with and without the ball things aren't clicking, we're not finding the right tempo,' said Kane. 'We've lost that aggressive nature that we had.' Diarra was afforded acres of room to run in behind the England defence and slot between the legs of Henderson to put the visitors in front just after the hour mark. England thought they had levelled late on when Jude Bellingham smashed home from a corner. But the goal was ruled out for a handball by Levi Colwill before the ball broke to the Real Madrid midfielder. Senegal made the most of that reprieve to seal a famous win in stoppage time when Sabaly rounded off a slick counter-attack. Boos rained down from the disgruntled home support to leave Tuchel with plenty to ponder before England are next in action in September. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Part one complete as Tony Popovic's Australia lock up World Cup berth
JEDDAH – Tony Popovic was already thinking about the improvements Australia needed to make for the 2026 World Cup Finals soon after they sealed automatic qualification with a gritty 2-1 win in Saudi Arabia on June 10. He took over as coach last September after the Socceroos made a poor start to the third round of Asian qualifying and has overseen five wins and three draws to book a ticket to North America. "Very, very satisfying right now, I'm sure it'll sink in as the days go by," he said shortly after the final whistle at Jeddah's King Abdullah Sports City. "It's been a very intense period since I've joined and I've loved it so far. We've done the first part, qualifying automatically, and now the next part is to be bigger and better for the World Cup." After beating Group C winners Japan 1-0 with a late goal in Perth last week, the Socceroos only needed to avoid a 5-0 loss to the Saudis to take their place in the Finals for a sixth straight edition. They got the job done despite going a goal down in front of a hostile crowd, watching a Saudi player have a red card rescinded by VAR, and conceding a late penalty. Goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who was winning his 100th cap, saved the penalty to ensure that goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke either side of half-time would give Australia all three points. "To do it here in this atmosphere, you've got to deal with the weather as well, and it's not easy to show that character resilience and quality, to come back and actually take the lead and win the game," added Popovic. "For Matty Ryan, his career speaks for itself and there's a lot more for him to achieve... but it's a day he'll never forget." Former centre-half Popovic was a member of the Australia squad that reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in 2006, a feat matched by Graham Arnold's team in Qatar three years ago. The 2006 squad had flair as well as the famed Australian resilience, and the task for Popovic over the next year is to build a team that can play a bit as well as fight. "We've built a good foundation now, and we want to really get better, get better kick on and try and do something special for the World Cup," he said. "We need to play games to keep improving, giving other players that deserve it an opportunity and then we want to be a squad that's much better than what we are now. I think that's the expectation we should have." Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, must instead make do with a place in the fourth round, alongside Indonesia. In Group B, Palestinian hearts were broken when they conceded a penalty deep into injury time to draw 1-1 with Oman in Amman. The stalemate ended their hopes of a first appearance at the Finals. Oman finish fourth and therefore advance to the next phase of qualification. REUTERS, AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Part one complete as Popovic's Australia lock up World Cup berth
Tony Popovic was already thinking about the improvements Australia needed to make for next year's World Cup finals soon after they sealed automatic qualification with a gritty 2-1 win in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Popovic took over as coach last September after the Socceroos made a poor start to the third round of Asian qualifying and has overseen five wins and three draws to book a ticket to North America. "Very, very satisfying right now, I'm sure it'll sink in as the days go by," he said shortly after the final whistle at Jeddah's King Abdullah Sports City. "It's been a very intense period since I've joined and I've loved it so far. We've done the first part, qualifying automatically, and now the next part is to be bigger and better for the World Cup." After beating Group C winners Japan 1-0 with a late goal in Perth last week, the Socceroos only needed to avoid a 5-0 loss to the Saudis to take their place in the finals for a sixth straight edition. They got the job done despite going a goal down in front of a hostile crowd, watching a Saudi player have a red card rescinded by VAR, and conceding a late penalty. Goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who was winning his 100th cap, saved the penalty to ensure that goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke either side of halftime would give Australia all three points. "To do it here in this atmosphere, you've got to deal with the weather as well, and it's not easy to show that character resilience and then quality, to come back and actually take the lead and win the game," said Popovic. "For Matty Ryan, his career speaks for itself and there's a lot more for him to achieve ... but it's a day he'll never forget." Former centre half Popovic was a member of the Australia squad that reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in 2006, a feat matched by Graham Arnold's team in Qatar three years ago. The 2006 squad had flair as well as the famed Australian resilience, and the task for Popovic over the next year is to build a team that can play a bit as well as fight. "We've built a good foundation now, and we want to really get better, get better kick on and try and do something special the World Cup," he said. "We need to play games to keep improving, giving other players that deserve it an opportunity and then we want to be a squad that's much better than what we are now. I think that's the expectation we should have." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
