Guardiola refuses invitation to take over Italy team: 'Honored, but I don't feel prepared'

"Thank you, I'm honored, but I don't feel prepared at the moment", one of the main coaches of the 21st century was quoted as saying, when responding to the invitation made by former defender Paolo Maldini, technical director of the Azzurri.

Former midfielder Andrea Pirlo now appears as one of the favorites to take command of the team.

The last World Cup played by the four-time champion team was in 2014, in Brazil, when they fell in the group stage, after defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay.

Since then, the team has been eliminated three times in a row in the European Qualifiers playoff. It was defeated by Sweden in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, in Russia, by North Macedonia when trying to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar, and by Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2026.

The last defeat resulted in the downfall of coach Gennaro Gattuso.

In May, Guardiola announced a career break, after a decade at the helm of Manchester City. During this period, he made the club one of the main forces in European football, winning the Champions League in the 2022/23 season, in addition to six Premier League titles.

According to information from the Italian newspaper "Gazzetta dello Sport", the Spanish coach has spent the last few days considering the possibility of accepting the invitation to take over the Azzurri, after his friend Maldini offered a long-term contract, "of eight to ten years".

The coach, however, ended up choosing to continue with his initial plan of spending more time with his family in the coming months. "If I do it, I will do it 100%," he reportedly said during negotiations with the Italian federation.

Read Also: Athlete who remained single during the World Cup is seen in a romantic mood with singer