Roberto Mancini did not seem too excited for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, underlining the difficulty of watching the tournament from home.
The Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup after their disastrous play-off loss to North Macedonia earlier this year, forcing them to watch the tournament from afar for the second consecutive time. Despite the failure, Mancini did not leave his post as Azzurri head coach and is now overseeing the revitalisation of the squad.
Speaking at the Overtime Festival in Macerata yesterday, Mancini discussed Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup and how it’ll feel to watch it from home.
“Next month will not be easy for Italians, watching the World Cup without Italy will be very hard. It is particularly so for me and the technical staff, perhaps less so for the players who have resumed playing and have partly got over this disappointment.
“I will only feel better when the World Cup is over, but I admit that it will be very hard to watch it on television.”
Italy have started their new path and took a positive step forward in the recent international break, beating England and Hungary to book their place in the Final Four of the Nations League. The Azzurri’s next two games are friendlies against Albania on November 16 and Austria on November 20.