Albania Coach Gianni De Biasi confirms he was “very close” to the Italy job before Giampiero Ventura got the nod.
A new boss was appointed ahead of Euro 2016, as Antonio Conte already announced he was leaving for Chelsea.
“I think that I was very close to the Nazionale,” De Biasi told Rai Sport.
“I met (FIGC President Carlo) Tavecchio recently and he explained the reasons were not to do with the Federation. But now there’s Ventura, who is the right man for this Nazionale and is doing well.”
Albania Coach Gianni De Biasi confirms he was “very close” to the Italy job before Giampiero Ventura got the nod.
A new boss was appointed ahead of Euro 2016, as Antonio Conte already announced he was leaving for Chelsea.
“I think that I was very close to the Nazionale,” De Biasi told Rai Sport.
“I met (FIGC President Carlo) Tavecchio recently and he explained the reasons were not to do with the Federation. But now there’s Ventura, who is the right man for this Nazionale and is doing well.”
Albania are in the same World Cup qualifying group as Italy and Spain, but only the top side will go through automatically.
“We could’ve certainly done without the defeat to Israel and certainly were not expecting a result like that. We went down to 10 men, then nine, so some decisions went against us.
“I think Italy and Spain will get the top two places and it’ll practically be a play-off when they go head-to-head. We’ll target third place, even if it won’t be of any use, but there are six more games and we’ll give it our best.”