Antonio Conte excited to manage Chelsea

The Italy coach Antonio Conte said that he cannot wait to manage Chelsea.

Italy was eliminated in the quarter-final by Germany and Antonio Conte stated that he does not have any regret for leaving the job. He believes that he will experience as much emotion at Chelsea as he has with the Italy national team.

He said that he has no regret for leaving Italy and that he had made the announcement quite early. However, he admitted that there was some moment where he wanted to come back to his decision and continue the adventure with Italy but because of certain factors he could not do that.

Antonio Conte said that was proud of the performance of the Italian team at the Euros and that he stated that there is also no regret in the way they were eliminated.

Antonio Conte declared that he likes the passion and pressure associated with club football, and this is why he has accepted Chelsea’s offer. He said that he had a talk with the president of the Italian national team, and he had made it clear that he want to manage Chelsea. Continue reading

Italy sent Signal after winning Group Match

When Italy toppled England in their first group match in the World Cup in Brazil last year, they sent a signal to the rest of the World. They made the statement that they were well and truly in the fight. They were there to become the Champions again.

Nine months down the road, here we are feeling pity over the situation of Italian Football.

How unpredictable can the Sports be at times?

The England win that the Azzurri achieved to get started in Brazil, that was followed by a couple of defeats and let alone winning the competition, they had been knocked out before the knockouts.

Something had to give and that happened to be the resignation of Cesare Prandelli.

Prandelli, while leaving, blamed the clubs in the Italian top tier for not working in tandem with the national team management and not cooperating enough. But, at that point of time, it was seen just as a mere excuse from the outgoing manager to hide his failure.

However, the new man Antonio Conte seems to have started feeling the same now. He has had to deal with the reluctance of the clubs to let the players go on national duty that often.

The players get released if a FIFA game is there in the schedule, but, apart from that, there is no allowance from the clubs, not even for short camps and that is becoming a reason of frustration for Conte now. Continue reading

Andrea Pirlo announces his Retirement

Following the conclusion of the 2014 World Cup, Andrea Pirlo announced his plans to retire from playing at the international scene but even at his 35 years of age, Pirlo is one of the most influential and key figures not only for his club Juventus but also for Italy.

The head coach of Italy, Antonio Conte decided to have a meeting with Pirlo and somehow managed to convince the experienced midfielder on staying with the Italian team for a few more years.

When Pirlo was asked in an interview about the possibility of retiring, the Italian midfielder responded by saying: “Of course, there’s enough Pirlo to go for a while. I still have a few years of football ahead.I still love this sport the way I did when I was 15. When I wake up one day and that’s no longer the case, I’ll retire.But that moment is still very distant. Antonio Conte called me and asked me if I would be willing to lend my country a hand for Euro 2016. And he convinced me.

“In 2006 we had an unrepeatable generation and that year’s World Cup was our moment.”

Andrea Pirlo’s decision to continue playing for a few more years is a sigh of relief for many supporters of the Italian national side as there still has not been any other player that can replace him. Continue reading