Spalletti Announces He Will Leave Italy Job in Emotional Press Conference | OneFootball

Luciano Spalletti will no longer be Italy’s coach after tomorrow’s World Cup Qualifiers game against Moldova. He announced it himself during today’s press conference ahead of the match, highlighting that he was relieved of his duties by the Italian Football Association (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina.

A few minutes later, Spalletti almost broke in tears and left the press conference room.

Spalletti’s position was at risk after Italy shockingly fell 0-3 to Norway on Friday night in their qualifiers opening game. The Azzurri managed to record only one shot on target during the game.

Spalletti announced that he was sacked as soon as the presser started: “Last night, I spent some time with President Gravina and he communicated to me that I will be relieved of my duties as the Nazionale head coach after the game against Moldova. I am sorry about that. I was not planning to say anything and I would have preferred to stay where I am to keep doing my job, like I have always done in my career. But, I was sacked, and I must take note of that.”

“I always saw this role as a service to my Country and I will facilitate the Nazionale’s future in any way I can. This means that I will agree to terminate my contract after tomorrow’s game. I will be paid until tomorrow, then I won’t be paid anymore.”

Spalletti went on to elaborate about his experience with the Azzurri:

“I always stated that our players are strong and I confirm that. I got all the support I needed from our Football Association to make the choices that I wanted, but the results didn’t come. I would have continued on this same path. To win, and to win well tomorrow, would surely be important to open the new cycle in the best possible way.”

“Tomorrow, I will ask my players to  show what I always asked them, even though, during my tenure, I didn’t manage to get the best out of all of them. During my tenure, I saw many players toned-down.”

He then added:

I’m disappointed because I didn’t manage to get the best out of my players and reach the quality level that I wanted. I’m disappointed with myself. I knew that, with coaching the Nazionale, there were going to be difficult moments, things to solve (…) but I was sure we would qualify to the World Cup.”

“I know that, with these results, I created some problems to the Italian footballing movement and I am sorry about that.”

Spalletti then invited the press to move on and talk about tomorrow’s game. After a few more minutes, while answering negatively to a question about whether he felt betrayed by anybody, he stood up and, almost with tears in his eyes, left the conference room.

Luciano Spalletti became the head coach of Italy in September 2023 after Roberto Mancini’s abrupt exit. He led Italy for 23 games, and collected 11 wins. He was in charge at Euro 2024, which ended with the Azzurri‘s elimination in the Round of 16 after a dismal performance vs Switzerland.

Italy seemed to be making some progress and had an encouraging start in the Nations League. However, in the last four games, the Azzurri collected three losses and one draw, conceding 11 goals. Last Friday’s loss in Oslo, which will make Italy’s path towards the 2026 World Cup much harder, put the last nail in the former Napoli coach’s coffin.