Gabriele Gravina, head of Italy’s football federation, said Spalletti would stay on.
“I’m pragmatic, it’s impossible to resolve problems by abandoning a long-term project or by abandoning the coach and players who have accompanied us in this project,” said Gravina.
“Spalletti has our faith, he has to have our faith, he needs to get to work, as in 60 days the Nations League begins.
“We can’t imagine that a [Kylian] Mbappe or Cristiano Ronaldo will suddenly come on the scene, so we need to be patient.”
Five months into his tenure in Naples, unhappy with the job he was doing, Napoli ultras stole Spalletti’s beloved Fiat Panda and said they would only return it if he left the club.
After this defeat, one Swiss journalist took the opportunity to quip whether Switzerland were now the Ferrari and Italy a Fiat Panda.
“You have to accept everything,” said Spalletti. “Even rather tasteless allusions like yours – you are clearly a wonderful exponent of sarcasm, and you are right, what more can you say?
“You did a better job than us, you were worthy winners, and we will try and do a better job next time.”
The Napoli ultras eventually gifted Spalletti his steering wheel back when he guided them to a first title in 33 years, and the veteran does not fear question marks over his national team future this time either.
“When you want to scare me, say ‘now what, now what’.” he added. “I have come under pressure from day one since I decided to become a coach, to make it this far. I am very relaxed in trying to compete at this level.”
2024-06-30 12:21:33
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