Abodi: ‘Gattuso has great heart and passion for Italy’ | OneFootball

Minister for Sport Andrea Abodi welcomes Gennaro Gattuso as the new coach of the Italy squad. ‘He has great heart and passion.’

The former midfielder who was part of the 2006 World Cup winning squad will now be leading the team from the touchline.

He was appointed after Luciano Spalletti’s dismissal and a poor start to the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Pressure on Gattuso to revitalise Italy

BERLIN – JULY 09: Gennaro Gattuso (L) and Fabio Grosso (R) of Italy celebrate with the world cup trophy during the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 Final match between Italy and France at the Olympic Stadium on July 9, 2006 in Berlin, Germany.

(Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images)

“Rino Gattuso is someone with great heart, has showed competence as a coach and does it with the passion we have all seen in him for a long time,” Minister for Sport Abodi told news agency ANSA.

“I am cheering him on, along with the Azzurri jersey and those who have the great pleasure of wearing it.”

Gattuso will make his debut on the Italy bench in the crucial qualifier against Estonia in September, then face Israel.

Only the first team in the group goes through directly to the World Cup, with the runners-up needing a play-off process.

It was here that Italy faltered in both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – JUNE 9: Luciano Spalletti head coach of Italy during the FIFA 2026 Qualifier between Italy and Moldova at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on June 09, 2025 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“We have in front of us some important appointments, targets that have become objectively very difficult,” added Abodi.

“We want to overcome the obstacles together after some uncertain steps, such as the defeat to Norway. We must have the capacity to think positive and recover the passion for the Azzurri jersey.”

Norway are top of the group with a 100 per cent record, having won all four of their matches so far.

Italy are in second with three points from just two games played, but have a totally new staff for the upcoming fixtures.