Benfica coach Jose Mourinho has confirmed he will not take over the Italian national team, stating that Serie A is full of local coaches capable of getting the Azzurri back on track.
The “Special One” was linked with the Italy job before Gennaro Gattuso’s appointment last year, and his name has resurfaced again as a potential option within the Italian football rebuilding project.
When asked in a press interview about the possibility of coaching Italy, Mourinho firmly replied, “No, there’s no need for a foreign coach there.”
He added, “You can’t hire Carlo Ancelotti now, but they have Massimiliano Allegri and Antonio Conte, and I could name five or six other good coaches.”
When asked about his preferred choice to coach the Azzurri, he responded, “If it were up to me, I’d choose Mr. Malagò to head the Italian Football Federation and Allegri to be the coach. Italy needs a complete overhaul, and they are capable of doing it.”
He concluded by urging Italy to follow Portugal’s example: “Come and see how youth tournaments are organized, what the conditions are like; this is enough to understand and perhaps emulate.”
