There will be two Italian coaches in the dugout when Roberto Mancini’s Italy take on Malta at the Ta’ Qali Stadium on Sunday evening, as Malta also have an Italian at the helm in Michele Marcolini.
Marcolini was born in the city of Savona and grew up playing in the youth academy of Torino, representing Italy at U-16 and U-18 level during that time.
As a midfielder, Marcolini played most notably in Serie A for Bari, Atalanta and Chievo Verona from the late 90s until 2011, with a short stint in Serie B with Vicenza sandwiched in at the start of the millennium.
After drawing a close to his playing career with Lumezzane in 2013, Marcolini immediately took on his first position in management with the same club, lasting until the end of the following season.
Since then, the 47-year-old has had stints with nine different clubs typically playing in the lower divisions of the Italian pyramid, most famously returning to his former side Chievo for the 2019-20 season.
At the end of 2021-22, Marcolini was let go from his position as coach of AlbinoLeffe of Serie C, having completed the full season for just the fifth time in his career.
He has not yet lasted more than a full season at any of the 11 sides he has coached during his career.
In December, 2022 it was announced that Marcolini would replace compatriot Devis Mangia as head coach of the Maltese national team.
The game against the Azzurri on Sunday evening will be just the second game of his spell in Malta, having slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of North Macedonia in their first game of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Kick off for Malta-Italy will take place at 19.45 GMT on Sunday evening.