“We didn’t pick Coverciano at random. It’s the home of the Italy national team”: this is how FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio opened today’s press conference to unveil the new Italy manager Giampiero Ventura. “We played well at EURO2016 and we regained the trust of our fans,” Tavecchio added.

“We’re pleased to be putting our team into Ventura’s hands, and there will be no external interference. He’ll have full control of it all. We had great results in terms of social media interaction and we came very close to reaching the semi-finals. Conte gave Italy a new image and a new style which he worked towards from day one. He based his tenure on discipline, sacrifice and respect: I am very grateful to him for this. Ventura knows what to do, he has always been in my mind and I am very proud that he joined us. I knew that Conte was going to resign and Ventura has been our first choice for a long time. He will receive all he needs to do well: I hope that Ventura has a good debut. We wish him every success as Italy’s head coach.”

Giampiero Ventura will work alongside Salvatore Sullo and Paolo Vanoli, the current Italy U19s manager. Alessandro Innocenti and Gianni Brignardello will be the Azzurri fitness coaches, while the goalkeeping coach role will be taken over by Gianluca Spinelli.  Elsewhere, Nicola Tarroni and Giuseppe Zinetti will join the scouting network.

Photo:  figc.it