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Cairo: 'I would have chosen Conte for Italy, Malagò decided differently'
manageriallowNeutral70% confidence

Cairo: 'I would have chosen Conte for Italy, Malagò decided differently'

August 3, 2026 at 02:08 PM
EditorialManagerialLow urgency70% confidence

Quick summary

Torino president Urbano Cairo stated he would have selected Antonio Conte as Italy's head coach, but former CONI president Giovanni Malagò made a different decision.

Full article

Attributed to original source

Torino President Urbano Cairo continues to vocally oppose the return of Roberto Mancini as the head coach of the Italy national team and is sticking to his stance that Antonio Conte was the right man for the job: ‘Malagò decided differently’.

Cairo continues to oppose Mancini’s Italy return: ‘I would have chosen Conte’ Mancini has recently been re-appointed as the head coach of the Italy national team after a three-year absence.

Since Mancini was last in the job, the Azzurri have gone through two more head coaches in Luciano Spalletti and Gennaro Gattuso and have been through a major overhaul of the senior leadership structure: Giovanni Malagò replacing Gabriele Gravina as President of the FIGC most notably.

Malagò and Mancini have a long-standing relationship and some feel that this was a key reason that Mancini got the job as CT, particularly given that Paolo Maldini had attempted to appoint three different candidates during his 17-day spell as technical director of the Italian FA.

Cairo is of that stance, and insists that Antonio Conte would have been the correct decision for the Italy head coach role.

FLORENCE, ITALY – MAY 24: Italian national team head coach Antonio Conte speaks to the media during a press conference at Coverciano on May 24, 2016 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images) “I would have chosen (Conte) because it’s important to bring a strong vision and to start well immediately. Conte represents that, he had already done well with the national team that wasn’t particularly exceptional, especially in attack,” said Cairo in a recent interview (via TMW ).

“He was motivated, he could have been the right man for the job. It’s true that there was support for Conte from the Lega (Serie A), Malagò decided differently.”

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What happened

Urbano Cairo, president of Torino, expressed his opinion that Antonio Conte would have been the ideal choice to lead the Italy national team. He attributed the different outcome to the decision-making of Giovanni Malagò, the former president of CONI (Italian Olympic Committee). The remarks reflect ongoing debate within Italian football about coaching appointments and the direction of the national team. The article frames this as a historical reflection on a past decision rather than a current breaking appointment.

Chance analysis

This is a retrospective opinion piece rather than breaking news, offering Cairo's perspective on Italy's coaching selection process. The relevance to match prediction is minimal as it discusses past decisions rather than upcoming fixtures. It signals internal Italian football politics and ongoing discourse about the Azzurri's leadership, which could indirectly affect morale or public perception of the current setup.

Impact

No immediate impact on teams or players; reflects historical opinion on Italy's coaching appointment process.

AI Insight

No direct impact on upcoming match predictions; treat as background context on Italian football politics.

Related entities
italybournemouthinter-milanTorinoInter MilanNational Team

Original source

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Managerial

Cairo: 'I would have chosen Conte for Italy, Malagò decided differently'

Torino president Urbano Cairo stated he would have selected Antonio Conte as Italy's head coach, but former CONI president Giovanni Malagò made a different decision.

Article summary

Urbano Cairo, president of Torino, expressed his opinion that Antonio Conte would have been the ideal choice to lead the Italy national team. He attributed the different outcome to the decision-making of Giovanni Malagò, the former president of CONI (Italian Olympic Committee). The remarks reflect ongoing debate within Italian football about coaching appointments and the direction of the national team. The article frames this as a historical reflection on a past decision rather than a current breaking appointment.

This is a retrospective opinion piece rather than breaking news, offering Cairo's perspective on Italy's coaching selection process. The relevance to match prediction is minimal as it discusses past decisions rather than upcoming fixtures. It signals internal Italian football politics and ongoing discourse about the Azzurri's leadership, which could indirectly affect morale or public perception of the current setup.

Source and timing

Published
Aug 3, 2026, 2:08 PM
Category
Editorial
Confidence
70%
Priority
Low

Related teams, competitions, matches, and tags

  • italy
  • bournemouth
  • inter-milan
  • Torino
  • Inter Milan
  • National Team
  • Managerial

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Cairo: 'I would have chosen Conte for Italy, Malagò decided differently' | Chance Soccer News