TMW<\/a>). \u201cI gave it my all, but I was unable to give everything. I\u2019m especially sorry to those who expected big results and development. I take responsibility having failed to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cThe federation was always close by me and gave me the opportunity to work in the best possible way, but unfortunately that\u2019s not how it went.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spalletti was asked if he feels that the standard or quality of player available to the Italy national team is at an all-time low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He replied: \u201cIn my opinion, absolutely not. Look at what we showed in Europe for comparison. The players I chose, I would choose again. What they must know is that they\u2019re great players. I watched them with all their qualities and I can say that I had a strong national team. Now I will watch Rino Gattuso\u2019s selections with curiosity. I wish him the best of luck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"BRIGHTON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gennaro-Gattuso-smile.jpg\")
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND \u2013 DECEMBER 14: Gennaro Gattuso, Head Coach of Marseille, looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League match between Brighton & Hove Albion v Olympique de Marseille at American Express Community Stadium on December 14, 2023 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
And does Spalletti feel that Gattuso is the right man to lead Italy into the 2026 World Cup in North America?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, he will make it. I\u2019ve listened to him because he called me, and we exchanged a couple of jokes. We respect each other a lot, because he\u2019s passionate and is someone who dedicates a lot of time to the work he does. I wish him luck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spalletti also admitted that he would have liked to have had Inter talent Francesco Pio Esposito at his disposal when he was still in charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"FERRARA,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Francesco-Pio-Esposito-Italy.jpg\")
FERRARA, ITALY \u2013 MARCH 26: Francesco Pio Esposito of Italy U21 during the UEFA Under21 EURO Qualifier match between Italy U21 and Turkey U21 at Stadio Paolo Mazza on March 26, 2024 in Ferrara, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Asked if there are any young players he would have liked to have selected, Spalletti replied: \u201cI did call some of them, like Leoni. I watched Pio Esposito play and he gave me hope for the future. My worry is that I didn\u2019t bring anyone in from Serie B. Going back, I would have called someone from the Cadetteria.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And on Retegui, who has left Atalanta after one year in order to join Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League, Spalletti said: \u201cWe have to be open to everything now, we can\u2019t just throw people away, because there are not so many players who are able to be called up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, you could choose from 500 players, now, you choose from 50. Giving yourself the luxury of leaving out players who have made an individual choice is inconceivable.\u201d <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – JUNE 09: Luciano Spalletti head coach of Italy looks on during the FIFA 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-64225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"REGGIO](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Luciano-Spalletti-bench-Italy.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"REGGIO](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Luciano-Spalletti-point.jpg\")
REGGIO NELL\u2019EMILIA, ITALY \u2013 JUNE 9: Luciano Spalletti head coach of Italy gestures during the FIFA 2026 Qualifier between Italy and Moldova at Mapei Stadium \u2013 Citta\u2019 del Tricolore on June 09, 2025 in Reggio nell\u2019Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n