For Ivan Cordoba, Roberto Mancini represents the right choice to relaunch the Italian National Team, which arrived at the appointment of the head coach after days of total confusion. “He’s the last one to have won with Italy, if I’m not mistaken. But if we think that a coach can solve all the problems, we are very wrong,” said the former Inter defender to Gazzetta dello Sport, who was coached by Mancini himself in Milan.
According to the Colombian, the difficulties of Italian football have much deeper roots, starting with cultural ones. “Kids in the youth sector are already loaded with unbearable pressure from parents, friends, agents. We need to recover lightheartedness, the desire to have fun. And then launch these young players. Abroad, they do it,” explained Cordoba.
The problem does not concern the number of foreigners in Serie A, but the lack of boldness in giving space to Italian talents. “There isn’t a problem with the number of foreigners but with the lack of courage in valuing Italian youngsters. Look at Pio Esposito: at 21 years old we call him a youngster. But strong players at 21 in other countries already have 100 first-team appearances,” concluded the former Nerazzurri defender.
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