Vittorio Pozzo, Arrigo Sacchi, Giovanni Trapattoni, Marcello Lippi, Fabio Capello and of course Carlo Ancelotti. The list of Italian coaches who have shaped football is long. A new generation is currently emerging. The 2006 world champions gather in the second Italian division.
While Andrea Pirlo works for Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey and Gennaro Gattuso was recently sacked at FC Valencia, four of her ex-colleagues are currently making their way through Serie B. For world champion captain Fabio Cannavaro, not much was going according to plan as a coach, he was in the table-19 last week. Benevento Calcio sacked.
Three world champions in the ascent race
Deutschland-Schreck does it much better Fabio Grosso at Frosinone Calcio. Four years after being relegated from Serie A, the club from the Roman suburbs top the Serie B table. Incidentally, Grosso’s predecessor, Alessandro Nesta, was also one of the players who triumphed in Germany.
Frosinone’s first pursuers are Genoa FC, led by Alberto Gilardino. The ex-striker succeeded German coach Alexander Blessin in early December and has since picked up 17 points from eight games. The only defeat was 0-2 at Parma Calcio, where, by the way, world champion keeper Gianluigi Buffon is still in goal at the age of 45.
And yet another world champion is fully involved in the promotion race. Filippo Inzaghi has been coaching third-placed Reggina 1914 since the summer. The former AC Milan goalscorer saw that the 2006 team would produce many coaches. ‘”The triumphs of this squad have been built on following rules and thanks to the trait of training well. Now it’s good that we pass it on and teach it”’ says Inzaghi in ‘Corriere della Sera’.
De Rossi is fighting relegation
The last representative of the world champion squad in Serie B is Daniele De Rossi, who joined SPAL Ferrara in October. There he found a difficult task in the relegation battle. In 15 games under the Roma legend, the Emilia-Romagna club have picked up a manageable 15 points. However, De Rossi’s good relationship with the American president and owner Joe Tacopina, who also worked at AS Roma, gives hope for a long-term cooperation.
