Italy sacks national team manager, Ventura

CAIRO – 15 November 2017 : The Italian Football Federation announced on Wednesday that they sacked their national team manager, Gian Piero Ventura, after he failed to take the team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Ventura refused to resign after Italy failed to qualify to the World Cup, and he provoked the Italian fans after the game, saying, “I lost only two games in two years; I lost only two games in two years.”

Ventura failed to qualify with Italy to the World Cup for the third time in their history and the first time since 1958.

Ventura started managing Italy in 2016 after the national team got eliminated from the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-finals. He succeeded Chelsea’s current manager, Antonio Conte, who led Italy at Euro 2016.

Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti is expected to be in charge of the national team for the first time. If appointed, Ancelotti would have much work to do to revive the Italian national team.