Sports

Roberto Mancini is the top candidate for vacant Italy job

30 of April 2018

FILE - in this Thursday, March 8, 2018 file photo, Zenit St. Petersburg manager Roberto Mancini looks up prior to the Europa League round of sixteen first leg soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Zenit St. Petersburg in Leipzig, Germany. Roberto Mancini is the top candidate to become Italy's coach after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned down the job. Mancini tells RAI state radio, "There has not been contact with the (Italian football) federation but for a coaching the Italian national team would be source of honor and prestige." Italian media reported over the weekend that Ancelotti informed the federation that he was no longer interested. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File),FILE - in this Thursday, March 8, 2018 file photo, Zenit St. Petersburg manager Roberto Mancini looks up prior to the Europa League round of sixteen first leg soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Zenit St. Petersburg in Leipzig, Germany. Roberto Mancini is the top candidate to become Italy's coach after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned down the job. Mancini tells RAI state radio, "There has not been contact with the (Italian football) federation but for a coaching the Italian national team would be source of honor and prestige." Italian media reported over the weekend that Ancelotti informed the federation that he was no longer interested. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)

Zenit Saint Petersburg manager Roberto Mancini is the top candidate to become Italy coach after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned the job down. Mancini tells RAI state radio he has not been contacted by the federation but the post would be "a source of honor and prestige." A former Italy player, Mancini has coached clubs in three countries to titles.

ROME (AP) — Zenit Saint Petersburg manager Roberto Mancini is the top candidate to become Italy coach after Carlo Ancelotti reportedly turned down the job.

Mancini tells RAI state radio, “There has not been contact with the (Italian football) federation but, for a coach, the Italian national team would be a source of honor and prestige.”

Italian media reported over the weekend that Ancelotti informed the federation he was no longer interested.

Under-21 coach Luigi Di Biagio guided Italy on an interim basis in friendlies last month but the team has not had a full-time coach since November when Gian Piero Ventura was fired after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in six decades.

Mancini, a former Italy player, has coached Fiorentina, Lazio, Inter Milan, Manchester City, and Galatasaray to titles.

Nantes coach Claudio Ranieri remains a secondary candidate.

The Italian federation has said it will announce a coach by May 20.