Prandelli confirmation for Italy

Prandelli confirmation for Italy
(PA) Sunday 30 May 2010
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Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli has signed a four-year contract to take over as Italy boss when Marcello Lippi steps down after the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete was given permission by the Serie A club earlier this month to talk to Prandelli, and the two men met in Rome today to discuss the matter.

An FIGC statement this afternoon confirmed the pair had reached agreement. It read: "Cesare Prandelli will take over the bench from coach Marcello Lippi after the World Cup in South Africa. President Abete has confirmed this morning, in a meeting that was held in Roma, the contract with the next coach of the national team, after the decision of Lippi to leave his post.

"The FIGC and Cesare Prandelli have agreed a contract for four years. The details of the deal will be defined in the coming days. The official presentation of the new coach will be at the end of World Cup."

A popular appointment
Lippi stepped down as Azzurri coach after leading the team to World Cup glory in Germany four years ago, but resumed the role two years ago. The 62-year-old will again leave his post after this summer's showpiece event in South Africa, and believes the federation have got the right man in Prandelli to replace him.

"I told president Abete at Christmas that I intended to finish these two years and then leave," Lippi said today. "Prandelli is the right person in the right place, but we will talk about this more in depth in the future. We will also talk further down the line, if you like, of the reasons which have pushed me to leave the national team for the second time."

Former national coach Arrigo Sacchi is also confident 52-year-old Prandelli, who was under contract with Fiorentina until June 2011, will do a fine job at the Italy helm. Sacchi told Sky Italia: "Cesare has shown already many times that he is a great coach, a great personality. He is technically excellent and a person I respect. Working for the national team is not like being a club coach - you are a coach that has to do a lot in a short space of time."
Cesare has shown already many times that he is a great coach, a great personality. He is technically excellent and a person I respect.
Former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi

Prandelli arrived from Roma in summer 2005 and transformed Fiorentina from relegation strugglers into a team worthy of a Champions League place in his first season in charge. Despite the 15-point deduction handed to Fiorentina for the match-fixing scandal, Prandelli was able to guide the team to a sixth-place finish in Serie A in 2007.

The following year, Prandelli steered Fiorentina to fourth place and qualification for the Champions League group stages. After the departure of Carlo Ancelotti from AC Milan to Chelsea last summer, Prandelli became the longest-serving manager in Serie A.