Italian Football Federation Holds Talks with Guardiola and Ancelotti for National Coach Role

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has held talks with former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti as it looks for a new national team coach following Italy's failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for a third straight time. The federation hopes to appoint a new coach within the week as it looks to rebuild after another disappointing qualifying campaign. Former Italy and AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini, who was appointed the federation's technical director earlier this month, attended a meeting with Serie A clubs on Thursday alongside new FIGC president Giovanni Malagò and special advisor Leonardo. Asked about Guardiola after the meeting, Maldini confirmed that the Spaniard is among the candidates but said the process is still ongoing. "Honestly, today we can't give news about what's happening. You've identified one of our targets," Maldini said. "We can't hide that we also talked with Carlo Ancelotti before talking with Pep. Honestly, it seemed right to start with the best in the world, to see their general availability." Guardiola left Manchester City at the end of last season after spending 10 years at the club, winning 35 major trophies across his managerial career with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City. According to Maldini, he and Leonardo spent three days in Barcelona meeting Guardiola to discuss the Italy job. "The best thing would be to announce the new coach this week, but even more to wait for the person we really want," Maldini said. "So there's urgency, but not so much inside us." Ancelotti, meanwhile, signed a contract extension with Brazil in May that runs until the 2030 World Cup. However, Brazil endured one of its poorest World Cup campaigns this year, exiting in the round of 16 after a 2-1 defeat to Norway. The 67-year-old has won league titles in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany, and remains the only coach to have won the UEFA Champions League five times. Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup after losing the playoff to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March led to the resignations of FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and head coach Gennaro Gattuso.