Italian Coach Quits After Norway’s Victory

Luciano Spalletti has been sacked from his role as Italy's coach, with the manager announcing the decision himself on Sunday, following their heavy loss to Norway, but he will take charge of Monday's game against Moldova. Spalletti spoke at a press conference before the Moldova match, which came after Norway stunned Italy with a 3-0 win on Friday, handing the visitors a humiliating start to their World Cup qualifying campaign. "Last night we were together with President Gravina. He told me that I will be relieved of my position as coach of the national team," Spalletti said.

"I had no intention of giving up. I would have preferred to stay in my place and continue doing my job. I'll be there tomorrow evening against Moldova, then we'll resolve the contract." Spalletti's dismissal comes after less than two years in the role, having replaced Roberto Mancini and taking charge in September 2023. Before his departure, with Spalletti at the helm, Italy was amongst the ranks of excellence who picked excellent players for their teams, such as Liverpool. Evidently, we saw this in Spalletti’s success to take Italy to Euro 2024, but it was quickly overshadowed by their disappointing performance there, which had already put the manager under pressure. Italy went into the Euros last year in Germany as defending champions but after winning their opening game against Albania, they lost to Spain and snatched a late draw with Croatia to make the last 16, where they were beaten 2-0 by Switzerland.

Spalletti's side seemed to have recovered as they put in an impressive Nations League campaign, beating France 3-1 away and losing just once. They lost at home to the French in the final group game to finish behind France on goal difference. Italy began this year with a 2-1 loss at the San Siro in their Nations League Quarterfinal First Leg with Germany and found themselves 3-0 down at halftime in the return game in Dortmund. Spalletti's side came back to salvage a draw but missed out on a Semifinal place and when they fell 3-0 behind at the break against Norway, this time Italy had no reply. The loss left Spalletti's side already facing an uphill battle to secure automatic qualification for next year's World Cup, and after Italy missed out on the last two finals, the FIGC decided to act.  Spalletti was asked if he felt betrayed, but the manager could hardly get any more words out, and with tears in his eyes, he left the press room. Gravina had spoken earlier on Sunday, and while the FIGC president did not mention Spalletti's future, he did speak of the result against Norway. "We know the result, in sports you can win, you can lose, but you also need to understand how to lose," Gravina said.