MILAN — Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso left his role “by mutual consent” on Friday, three days after the national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
The Italian soccer federation announced the news in a statement, according to AP, thanking Gattuso “for the dedication and passion” during his nine months in charge.
Italy´s chances of reaching this year´s tournament in North America ended on Tuesday after a penalty shootout loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a qualifying playoff.
“With pain in my heart, not having achieved the goal we had set ourselves, I consider my experience on the national team bench to be over,” Gattuso said.
Gattuso´s departure comes a day after Italy´s soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina resigned along with Gianluigi Buffon, who was the national team´s delegation chief.
The defeat to Bosnia added more misery for four-time champion Italy after being eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in the qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.
Gattuso took over from the fired Luciano Spalletti in June with the squad already in crisis mode following a defeat at Norway in its opening qualifier.
The Azzurri then went on a six-match winning streak before another loss to Norway in November to finish second in their group and end up in the playoffs again.
