Italy Manager Cesare Prandelli Resigns After Rant Against Fans And Italian FA

After a controversial 1-0 loss to Uruguay Tuesday in the Group stages of the World Cup, Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has resigned from his position. His Italian squad came in third in the group after two consecutive losses against Costa Rica and Uruguay.

In 2010, Prandelli replaced Marcelo Lippi as head coach of the Azzurri after the 2006 World Cup. He has since led the Italian squad to a 2nd place finish in Euro 2012 (where they were defeated 4-0 by Spain), and a third place finish in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Prandelli has stated that his resignation is due to “a personal failure” with the Azzurri in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“If your tactical project fails, it’s necessary to take responsibility. Before renewing my contract I was willing to camouflage the problems of Italian football. However, we have become objects of verbal aggression, we have become a sort of political party guilty of stealing money – and this, as well, is a reason for my resignation. We are one of the few national teams that don’t have support from the fans. It’s as if we have to win them over, match-by-match. When we arrived here, we embarrassed you. Insults, and whistles. We are no longer patriotic, we whistle at and insult our players during the national anthem. We need to create a project that teaches respect and values starting from the youth teams.”

On the red card incident:

“That was not a red card in my opinion. We were playing a well balanced game against Uruguay, a team that has got two of the strongest strikers in the world. The referee made that call and ruined the match that both sides were playing because it was not a red.”

On Luis Suarez:

“I didn’t see the images, but I saw the marks on Chiellini. It’s a pity. In football, you should be able to accept it when you lose. But when people make bad choices, it’s hard to comment.”