Northern Ireland v Italy (15/11/2021)

THE COACH: ITALY

WORDS: LIAM BLACKBURN

Roberto Mancini became the coach of the Italian national team when he was hired in May 2018 following the country’s failure to qualify for that summer’s World Cup in Russia. A forward in his playing days, Mancini began his career at Bologna and then made 566 appearances for Sampdoria – scoring 168 times across 15 years – before ending his career with Lazio and then in England with Leicester City. At Samp he formed a lethal strike partnership with Gianluca Vialli and the two helped the club win their only Serie A title in the 1990-91 season. Mancini was also captain of the side in the 1992 European Cup final when Sampdoria suffered a 1-0 loss to Barcelona at Wembley. Mancini won 36 caps for his country and scored four times, including once against Germany at Euro 1988. He took his first managerial job at Fiorentina, cutting short a loan stint with Leicester to take the position in 2001. He won Coppa Italia trophies with Fiorentina and then Lazio before taking charge of Inter Milan in 2004. Mancini won three successive league titles with Inter before replacing Mark Hughes at Manchester City in December 2009. He led City to an FA Cup triumph over Stoke City in May 2011 to end the club’s 35-year wait for a trophy and, the following season, Mancini guided City to a Premier League title thanks to a dramatic last- gasp goal from Sergio Aguero in a 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers. He became the second Italian after Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea 2010) to win the Premier

League, but he stayed in the job just 12 more months. Mancini then went on to manage Galatasaray before returning to Inter and later taking charge of Zenit St Petersburg, whom he left to take over at the national team. Though Italy won just one of their first six games under Mancini, he soon turned around their fortunes, culminating in their Euro 2020 triumph back in the summer. The Italians defeated England on penalties in the final at Wembley. Mancini is closing in on 800 matches as a manager and he has won 11 major trophies. • Mancini won six Coppa Italia trophies as a player – a record he shares with Gianluigi Buffon. Mancini has also won the competition four times as a manager, twice with Inter and once with Fiorentina and Lazio respectively. • He presided over a world record 37-game unbeaten run in charge of Italy between October 2018 and October 2021. Mancini became the fastest Azzurri manager to reach 30 victories, which he did in just 44 games at the helm. • Mancini is one of 11 managers to have won the Premier League. Four of those – Mancini, Ancelotti, Antonio Conte and Claudio Ranieri – are Italian.

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