ROME — For iconic Italian soccer coach Antonio Conte, the pattern of success followed by a new challenge has become a well-worn career trajectory — and now, less than 12 months after delivering Napoli’s fourth Italian top-flight Scudetto, it appears the outspoken coach is set to move on once again.
Conte has publicly thrown his name into the running for the vacant head coaching position of the Italian men’s national team, a role he previously held a decade ago during the 2014 European Championship. The vacancy opened after the Azzurri failed to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup, triggering resignations from both head coach Gennaro Gattuso and Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina. New federation presidential elections are scheduled for June 22, leaving the organization led by an interim lame-duck leadership for the time being.
Speaking to reporters following Napoli’s tight 1-0 win over AC Milan this Monday, Conte made his ambitions clear. “If I were the federation president I would consider myself,” he stated. “I’ve already been with the national team and I know what it’s like.”
The move would align with Conte’s long-established career pattern: following a title-winning campaign, he departs for a new opportunity almost immediately. This trend stretches back to 2009, when he left Bari just after securing the Serie B title. It continued at Juventus in 2014, where he exited after claiming his third straight Serie A crown; at Chelsea in 2018, one year after winning the Premier League and just after lifting the FA Cup; and most recently at Inter Milan in 2021, where he left immediately after delivering a Scudetto.
While the national team speculation swirls, Conte remains focused on Napoli’s current late-season Serie A push. Napoli recently overtook AC Milan to claim second place in the league table, and will face Parma in an upcoming fixture this Sunday. Despite Napoli’s strong recent form, Conte struck a realistic tone about the club’s title chances: current league leader Inter Milan holds a seven-point advantage with only seven matchdays remaining.
“It’s not a question of believing or not; it’s about being realistic,” Conte explained. “We would have to be perfect and Inter would have to make several missteps. And from what we’ve seen, that seems unlikely because Inter is strong.”
This weekend, Inter faces a uniquely short away trip when they travel to face nearby Como. Inter’s Appiano Gentile training facility, located north of Milan, sits less than 20 kilometers from Como’s Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia — less than half the distance of the trip from the training ground to Inter’s home San Siro stadium. The two sides have recent history: Inter secured a 4-0 rout of Como back in December, but Como held Inter to a goalless draw in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinal at Sinigaglia last month. The second leg of that cup fixture is scheduled for April 21.
Inter comes into the match off a confidence-boosting 5-2 thrashing of AS Roma last weekend, the club’s first league victory since February. Como, led by former Barcelona and Arsenal star Cesc Fàbregas, enters the match unbeaten for nearly two months, and sits in fourth place fighting to hold onto the final guaranteed Champions League qualification spot.
One player set to capture attention this weekend is Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkish playmaker delivered one of the goals of the season against Roma, a 30-yard long-range stunner that dipped under the crossbar. The goal marked Calhanoglu’s ninth league goal of the season, to go with three assists, and he recently helped Turkey qualify for its first World Cup since 2002.
In injury news, Juventus star center forward Dusan Vlahovic will miss another three weeks of action with a calf injury. The injury comes just after Vlahovic recovered from a previous muscular issue he sustained back in November, and the ongoing fitness problems could complicate his ongoing contract negotiations with Juventus, which has offered the striker a short-term extension at a reduced salary.
Off the pitch, current Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti, who was fired as Italy national team coach last year after an opening qualifying loss to Norway, has proposed a structural solution to Italy’s national team struggles. Spalletti suggested that the FIGC mandate every Serie A club field at least one Italian under-19 player in their starting lineup each match to develop homegrown talent.