MILAN: Roberto Mancini said Monday he would be proud to coach Italy but insisted he had not yet had any contact with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Zenit Saint Petersburg coach Mancini is seen as the favourite to take over the four-time world champions after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned down the job offer. “It won’t be the same World Cup (without Italy),” said Mancini, who believes Italian football needs to be rebuilt from grassroots level to return to the glory days. “I feel that at this time the national team doesn’t have the champions it always had but it has good players. He reached the semi-finals of Euro 1988, and was in the squad that finished third in the 1990 World Cup on home soil.

Source: New Strait Times April 30, 2018 15:33 UTC