Gianfranco Zola returns to the national team and joins Club Italia in the role of "coordinator of youth activities projects" .
The announcement was made by the president of the Italian Football Federation, Giovanni Malagò. " Ranieri and I strongly supported this decision, sharing it with Lega Pro president Matteo Marani, of which Zola will continue as deputy vice president," he said.
"Zola's charisma, his preparation, and his commitment to young people shown in recent years in Lega Pro," Malagò concluded, "represent the best foundation for building our future."
The former Oliena-born playmaker's role is crucial to the medium- and long-term plans to revolutionize training methods and develop technically gifted young players , modeled after Spain's victory at the last World Cup. Technical director Claudio Ranieri emphasized this during the press conference presenting the new national team: "We teach young players to dribble, not to win," he said, emphasizing that in Italian youth academies, too much emphasis is placed on tactics for quick wins, neglecting basic technique.
Gianfranco Zola, in addition to playing 35 matches for Italy from 1991 to 1997, was appointed assistant coach of Pierluigi Casiraghi's Under-21 team in 2006. He served for two years before moving on to coach West Ham.
(Unioneonline)
