Gattuso asked to stay on as Italy coach after World Cup disaster

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Gattuso

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Gennaro Gattuso has been asked to stay on as coach of the national team, Italy’s football chief said moments after Tuesday’s play-off defeat to Bosnia and Hercegovina which meant the Azzurri will miss out on a third straight World Cup.

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Italy lost the penalty shoot-out 4-1 after drawing 1-1 in Zenica, and became the first World Cup winners to miss three consecutive editions of the tournament, which this year will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

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“I’ve asked him to stay and asked (Gianluigi) Buffon to stay in charge of the football side,” Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), told reporters.

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Buffon has a role within the FIGC which involves overseeing the senior and youth national teams, and he said he would wait until the end of the current season in June before making a decision on his future.

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Asked whether he would accept Gravina’s invitation to stay, Gattuso repeated what he said to Italian broadcaster RAI by saying it “wasn’t important”.

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“It’s really painful. I would have given anything today, I would have given up years of my life, money, for us to achieve our goal,” said Gattuso.

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A World Cup winner as a player in 2006, Gattuso was hired in June last year to replace the sacked Luciano Spalletti, with a contract which expires after the World Cup.

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Gravina also said he would not step down, but his presence as the head of the FIGC would be discussed at a board meeting next week.

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“We know that we’re in a profound crisis, a crisis that requires serious reflection and not only by the FIGC but also from politicians who have only pushed for resignations,” he said.

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