ROME — When Luciano Spalletti was 11, he requested his mother to stitch a “giant” Italian flag collectively to rejoice the Azzurri’s 4-3 win over West Germany within the 1970 World Cup semifinals - a match that has since been labeled the “Game of the Century.”

“Now I’m going to carry that flag with me onto the the national team’s bench,” Spalletti mentioned Saturday at his presentation as the brand new Azzurri coach. “I need to create that dream for 1000's of youngsters.

“It’s really an indescribable emotion,” Spalletti added.

The 64-year-old Spalletti, who led Napoli to the Serie A title final season, was employed when Roberto Mancini unexpectedly resigned final month. Mancini then took over Saudi Arabia’s nationwide staff.

Spalletti, whose attacking ways at Napoli garnered plaudits from throughout Europe, left the southern membership after the title and mentioned he needed to take a year-long sabbatical. But when the Italian soccer federation known as to supply him the nationwide staff job, he didn’t hesitate.

It’s a superb match for Spalletti, who's from Tuscany and lives on a farm an hour’s drive from the nationwide staff coaching middle within the Coverciano hamlet of Florence.

When Spalletti left Napoli, he signed a doc that included a clause of three million euros ($3.3 million) to be paid if he returned to work inside a 12 months.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis maintains that the price should now be paid, whereas the Italian federation disagrees, saying that the nationwide staff shouldn't be a competitor of Napoli’s.

Spalletti mentioned he hopes that the problem “ends positively for both sides,” including that “lawyers are working on it.”

Mancini had a combined tenure that included successful the European Championship in 2021 but in addition failing to qualify for the World Cup the next 12 months.

“It’s useless to hide that there’s a bit of disappointment,” federation president Gabriele Gravina mentioned about Mancini’s exit.

As for Spalletti, Gravina mentioned: “Luciano dedicates his entire wellbeing to everything that he loves: his family, the people he’s close with, his land, and soccer.”

Italy faces North Macedonia and Ukraine in European Championship qualifiers on Sept. 9 and 12, respectively. The Azzurri have three factors from their opening two video games in Group C to path England and Ukraine.

Former captain Leonardo Bonucci, Jorginho, Marco Verratti and Francesco Acerbi - all regulars underneath Mancini - have been overlooked of Spalletti’s first squad introduced Friday.

Bonucci was overlooked of preseason coaching at Juventus and transferred to Union Berlin on Friday. Jorginho has been diminished to a bench function at Arsenal, Verratti seems set to go away Paris Saint-German for Saudi Arabia, and Acerbi is recovering from damage.

“We’ve got to have the right commitment and behavior,” Spalletti mentioned at Coverciano. “That’s why I name gamers - not due to their names.

“I may not be the best coach for the national team, but I promise will be the best version of Spalletti.”

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