Marco Materazzi backs Roberto Mancini to be a success as Italy Coach, adding he ‘can’t do any worse’ than his predecessor.
The former Inter, Manchester City and Zenit St Petersburg was confirmed as Giampiero Ventura’s full-time successor earlier this week, having mutually terminated his contract early with the Russian club.
He has since named his first Azzurri squad for the forthcoming international friendlies with Saudi Arabia, France and the Netherlands.
Marco Materazzi backs Roberto Mancini to be a success as Italy Coach, adding he ‘can’t do any worse’ than his predecessor.
The former Inter, Manchester City and Zenit St Petersburg was confirmed as Giampiero Ventura’s full-time successor earlier this week, having mutually terminated his contract early with the Russian club.
He has since named his first Azzurri squad for the forthcoming international friendlies with Saudi Arabia, France and the Netherlands.
“Mancio really wanted the Azzurri job and refused a lot of money [from Zenit],” Materazzi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“But now he needs to work hard.
“It’s true that he can’t do any worse and he is well suited to being a national team Coach rather than a club one.
“There are fewer better than he is at selecting players.”
Mancini has used his first squad selection to recall Mario Balotelli as he begins preparations for Italy’s UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 qualifying campaigns.
“I am very happy for Mario. He behaves in certain ways and we will never see him chasing the opposition around half of the pitch.
“But matches are decided by who scored goals and he has a special ability for doing that.”