Soccer: Search for new Italy boss gets down to 'nitty-gritty'

The search for a new Italy boss will

et down to the "nitty-gritty" starting Wednesday, newly elected

Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) chief Giovanni Malagò said

Monday night.

Malagò said new technical director Paolo Maldini, the Italy and

AC Milan defending legend, will start "focusing all his energies

on the choice".

Maldini was hired as technical director to oversee a rebuild

after Gennaro Gattuso resigned after Italy became the first

former world champions to fail to qualify for the World Cup for

the third straight time.

Andrea Pirlo, Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, and Roberto Mancini

are the primary candidates on the shortlist to take over.

2006 World Cup hero Pirlo is manager of UAE First Division

League club Dubai United, while Guardiola has just left

Manchester City and Mancini and Conte, both former Azzurri

bosses, are currently free.

Speaking at the annual charity Match of the Heart between

politicians and journalists on the one hand and singers on the

other, Malagò indicated that Mancini, who won the Euros in 2020,

might be his preferred choice.

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