Luciano Spalletti will remain in his role as Italy men’s head coach despite his side’s European Championship exit to Switzerland on Saturday.
Italy were second-best throughout the last-16 clash and Switzerland emerged as 2-0 winners, thanks to goals either side of half-time from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas.
The defeat for the reigning European champions raised questions about Spalletti’s future as head coach, despite the fact he signed a three-year contract to replace Roberto Mancini fewer than 12 months ago.
Following the Switzerland loss, though, Spalletti spoke as if he intended to carry on with the national team. “The results have said that we need to change things,” the 65-year-old said. “That’s been the footballing verdict and I’ll be forced to do so.”
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Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina then confirmed in a press conference with Spalletti on Sunday that the former Napoli boss will remain in his position.
“We had a long talk with the coach,” Gravina said. “I am pragmatic and I think it is unthinkable to solve problems in times of difficulty by abandoning a project that from the first moment we said was a three-year project.
“You can’t think about abandoning a project after eight or nine months. Something has to be changed, something has to be revised in terms of approach. There will be deep reflections, last night we started to go through that with Spalletti. We all have to grow.”
Italy conceded the first goal in all four of their Euro 2024 matches (Claudio Villa/Getty Images for FIGC)
Asked what he would do if he could turn back time, Spalletti replied: “That’s not a game I play. Going over what might have happened. I can’t go back.
“It’s clear from what we saw that I made some mistakes. I tried to rejuvenate the team. Given that I’m staying, I’ll try to rejuvenate the team even more in the future.”
Switzerland’s win means they will face England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
For Italy, their next fixtures come in September when they face France and Israel in the Nations League.
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(Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
