Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi has said that he still dreams of returning back to the national team as one of the top strikers. The former Manchester United man has suffered a number of injury problems last couple of years. This has restricted him to just a handful of appearances even for his club. The lack of fitness meant that he has not been part of the Euro 2012 and the World Cup 2014 despite being at the prime of his career. He said before the World Cup that he was close to full fitness, but this did not convince then manager Cesare Prandelli.

After a disappointing World Cup in which the team was knocked out of the group stages once again, Prandelli offered his resignation and joined Turkish club Galatasaray. Italian FA are yet to announce a replacement for his position, but it was widely speculated that former Juventus manager Antonio Conte could be the next boss. The 45-year-old recently announced his resignation from Juventus despite having led the team to 3 successive Italian Serie A titles. He is expected to join on a three-year contract with a view of helping the team do well at the Euro 2016.

Despite being on the fringes of the Italian team, Rossi has said that he has still not given up on wearing the blue of the Azzurri.

“Right now I am only thinking about the future. Conte could bring many new things to the team, but let’s see what happens. I didn’t offend anyone with that tweet. Playing for the national team is still a goal of mine. Decisions have to be made by the Coach, the President – that’s the first step. But for my part, I want to come back and play. I want to do well for Fiorentina, and then do well for the national team,” said Rossi.

Italy manager Cesare Prandelli has accepted the blame for his nation’s poor showing at the World Cup 2014. He has offered his resignation from the national team post. Prandelli has been widely acknowledged as one of the best young managers in world football. He was a major reason in helping Italy find new talent in the last five years. Those young talent has been responsible for lowering the age of a squad with dramatically following the inclusion of youngsters like Mario Balotelli, who at just 23 years of age, have a lot of time left in football.

Even though it delivers knockout at the group stages like England, Prandelli was expected to stay on as the boss given his outstanding reputation. There have been links with a return to club football in the last few months and this appears to have been confirmed after the 56-year-old handed his resignation to the Italian football Federation. Italy came with a few minutes of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup. They conceded a set piece goal in the final 10 minutes of the match to be knocked out by Uruguay.

Italy finished the competition third in the group just ahead of England, who managed just one point. Mario Balotelli was a major disappointment at this tournament with just one goal and two very poor performances.

“I talked to the president of the federation and gave my resignation. The technical set-up didn’t work, and I take all responsibility for that. Something has changed since my contract was renewed. I don’t know why. I chose a certain technical plan and that’s why I’m resigning – because it did not work. A second European Championship, third at the Confederations [Cup] and the qualification obtained in advance should not be under-estimated,” said the former Fiorentina manager.