August 4 – Giancarlo Abete (pictured), the President of Italian Football Federation (FIGC), is pinning his hopes of a series of changes to help restore the country to the top of the sport following a disappointing performance at the World Cup in South Africa.
As revealed on insideworldfootball yesterday, Roberto Baggio is the new President of the technical committee, Arrigo Sacchi is head of the junior national teams and Gianni Rivera is President of the youth sector, changes Abete hopes will help the former four-time world champions rebuild.
“Italian football faces many challenges, but the first is to recover the quality and spectacle of our football,” he said.
“I spoke with Baggio, these are people that made the history of the sport.”
Italy’s new coach Cesare Prandelli is due to take his to London for Tuesday’s Ivory Coast friendly, and the forecast from Abete is good as he stresses the importance of focusing on youth.
“Prandelli has always known how to work with young players and his results speak for themselves,” he said.
Sacchi has stressed the need to cultivate a youth culture for the Italy national team if they are to flourish in future.
The FIGC’s new coordinator for Italy’s junior national teams is trying to reshape the mentality that was blamed for the team’s failure at the World Cup – reliance on old players.
Sacchi feels its is time to invest in youth football and trust in the development of young stars.
He hopes there will be a shift from past beliefs which were rooted in experienced players.
“I will work to help Italian football return to being a protagonist knowing full well that we have never believed in young players, Italy is a country for old men,” he said.
“We have to be patient and allow the young players to grow.
“We are good at making teams in difficult times, but we need the co-operation of everyone.”
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