Inzaghi rules himself out of Italy national team job: ‘Italian football will recover’
Former Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi insists that Italian football ‘will recover’ after the failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third time in a row earlier this week, but has ruled himself out of the running to replace Gennaro Gattuso as head coach of the Italy national team: ‘I have another year on my contract with Al-Hilal’.
The former Lazio and Inter head coach, currently in charge of Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League turns 50 today. He is approaching the end of his first season in charge of Al-Hilal, who are currently second in the Saudi Pro League, five points shy of Cristian Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr with seven games of the season left to go.
“It’s a fantastic situation in Saudi Arabia from all points of view: The lifestyle, the sporting and non-sporting infrastructure, the calmness that accompanies you even in a stressful job like mine,” Inzaghi told Libertà in an interview published on his birthday.
Inzaghi on Italy national team and personal future: ‘Fortunately, I didn’t need money’
The topic of conversation soon turned to Italy’s latest failure to qualify for the World Cup following their penalty shoot-out defeat away against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday evening.
“I’m very sorry that Italy won’t be at the World Cup for the third time in a row,” said Inzaghi.
“I’m 100% Italian, my brother also won a World Cup. Italian football will recover, I’m sure of it. Having said that, I left Italian football for a number of reasons.”
The most obvious of those ‘reasons’ is the significant hike in wages that Inzaghi reportedly received when he decided to move to the Saudi Pro League. He insists that this was not the only motivation behind his decision to leave Italy, though.
“Wrong. Earning a lot is a pleasure, obviously, but other factors pushed me here. Fortunately, I didn’t need money.
“The desire to try a completely new experience in a completely new environment. The years I had at Inter were very satisfying from a professional point of view, but also very stressful. I felt the need to experience football at a high level, but to unplug from a load of pressure that had become very heavy.”
Inzaghi’s name has been mentioned by some outlets in Italy as a potential candidate to replace Gennaro Gattuso as head coach of the national team. He has effectively ruled himself out of the running, though.
“I’m flattered, but as I said, I’m fine here and I have another year on my contract with Al-Hilal.”