Mancini confirms Italy stay and insists 'we could have won the World Cup'
Roberto Mancini has confirmed he will stay on as Italy coach despite their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and insists his team could have won the competition.
The European champions suffered a shock defeat to North Macedonia in the qualifying play-offs, ensuring they will not compete at the finals tournament in Qatar this year.
Despite the upset, the coach is not going to walk away from the national team and still hopes to achieve his dream of winning the World Cup.
What has been said?
"I spoke to [Italian football association] president Gabriele Gravina, we have the same ideas on everything," Mancini said at a press conference ahead of his side's friendly against Turkey.
"We will talk about it again after the game, we will think calmly. on what needs to be improved for the future."
Asked why he wants to remain in the role, Mancini said: "Because I'm still young and I wanted to win European Championships and World Cups, I still need time to achieve the latter. I like my job, I know I can I still have a lot of fun and with the guys I can reorganise something important."
What next for Italy?
Mancini took charge of the national team in 2018 and still has four more years left on his contract.
After the friendly with Turkey, he will turn his attention to the Nations League clashes against Germany, Hungary and England in June, and the coach has promised some changes heading into those clashes.
He said: “We’ll have a chance to add younger players who, we hope, will have more chances with their clubs. This is crucial. There are many young players who can have the ambition to play with Italy and with a bright future ahead.
“We can look at the potential of young players. The current team, with some addition, could have won the World Cup. There are many things we need to see, surely, we’ll change something from the next games.
"We must look at the Euros in two years and prepare the team to qualify. This is our job."