Mancini Regrets Italy Exit, Downplays Recent Roma Links

Roberto Mancini is currently unemployed after being sacked by Saudi Arabia and just turned 60. He revisited his decision to leave Italy and addressed the courtship by Roma in an interview with Il Giornale.

“It was a wrong choice, and I wouldn’t do it again if I could go back. Not qualifying for the World Cup is what stings the most. The relationship with the Federation was strained. If president Gabriele Gravina and I had talked, explained each other, and cleared the air, things would have probably gone differently. Perceiving that the trust in you is wavering isn’t a nice feeling for a coach. I don’t deny that those numbers can discombobulate a manager. The offer mattered, but it wasn’t decisive. It wasn’t the main reason why I stepped down.”

Mancini dreams of a return to the Azzurri bench.

“I have unfinished business. I had stated when I first took over that I wanted to win the World Cup and the European Championship.”

Mancini was attached to Roma before they hired Claudio Ranieri.

“I’ve never been contacted directly by their brass. It was pleasing to read that many Giallorossi fans would have been happy and a lot of Lazio ones would have been angry. I would have accepted if there were the conditions to carry on a nice project together.”

Mancini remembered the key figures that passed away in the recent past.

“Gianluca Vialli, Sven-Goran Eriksson, and Sinisa Mihajlovic left a desert in my heart. You can’t even begin to imagine how much I miss them.”

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