“Is the national team considered a burden? It always has been.” Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has his say after the Azzurri were eliminated in the round of 16 of the European Championship. “When I was coach, the League had organized the Super Cup in Japan when there was a friendly match of the national team. Already 15 years ago there were no healthy relations. The first thing is to get the FIGC and the League to agree,” said Prandelli on Radio Anch’io sport on Rai Radio1. “Enough talking, enough rehashing things, we need to understand how to make this movement grow – continues Prendelli -. When the national team is there, everyone becomes a fan, before that nobody gives a damn. And 50 million people become coaches. Why can’t we get involved before these events to be prepared?”
for the World Cup
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According to Prandelli, the risks for Italy could continue in view of the qualification for the 2026 World Cup. “The risk is there. When we were eliminated in 2014, in a press conference I said: but are we sure that in the next few years we will go there? Already at the time we had data that showed a very negative trend in perspective: a great competence and great resources up to 19-20 years, we are competitive at a global level but then we have an incredible hole, for years”.
from the youth
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To be managed, according to Prandelli, is the transition from the youth teams to the first team. “We are unable to propose players to the first team, to make them grow, to give them a strong moral strength and therefore we lose them. Perhaps the Federation must do something more, it must try to make the boys grow at home. Our crisis starts when we are young, we continue to be in crisis and this is the moment to act, to put forward proposals, to create a pool of people who want to give something to football. We don’t need contracts, we need the will to do something”.
