Italy, Bergomi promotes Gattuso: "The coach should be left free to express himself. The national team lacks a real 10"

Milan, 15 June 2025 – While waiting for Gattuso 's announcement on the Azzurri bench, now imminent, the 'Uncle of Italy' is positive and calls for less pressure on the coaches who "should be left free to express themselves". Beppe Bergomi is one of Madrid's heroes, defender of that National team that in 1982 accomplished the feat of bringing home the third World Cup and that has remained in everyone's hearts ever since.

Bergomi, Gennaro Gattuso will be crowned coach of the National team…

"Now all that's missing is the announcement, I think he can do well, but the coaches should be left free to express themselves. He's young and above all he's doing well at the moment and he's an important factor."

The Azzurri aren't shining, what went wrong?

“You can't make an assessment on a single match, you always have to evaluate the entire journey, even Bearzot's Italy lost to Norway in a friendly in Lecce in 1985. But Bearzot has always maintained faith in his group and today's players play a lot, it's not that they don't care or aren't attached to the shirt”.

Tomorrow she will be in Senigallia, in an evening organized by Panathlon and Rotary to talk about the 1982 World Cup, 43 years later, Italians have not yet forgotten the magical nights of Barcelona and Madrid…

“It is certainly the team that has remained in everyone's heart, Pescara coach Silvio Baldini defined us a few days ago as 'the National team, the real one'. But I am convinced that even today's Azzurri know what it means to represent the Italian flag”.

What is your most emotional memory of the 'World Cup'?

“Paolo Rossi's goals, Tardelli's scream, Pertini's exultation are memories that we will all always carry in our hearts. My personal favorite was the moment I entered the field, against Brazil in place of Collovati, when I felt for the first time the unique sensation that the blue shirt gives you”.

What is this Italy missing?

“We are missing a number 10. We are missing a Gianni Rivera, a Paolo Rossi, a Roberto Baggio, a Francesco Totti. But we are the ones who won the European Championship in 2021 with an excellent intuition by Roberto Mancini. We need to work more on the youth sectors, there is always a need for new talents”.

He was a flag bearer for Inter, the Nerazzurri came out badly from the Champions League final…

"We are used to evaluating the final result, but in football the entire journey that the team takes is important: Inter in recent years has always managed to get to the end, then it can also happen that we don't win a match. But we have a great president and a strong management, we will recover soon".

The team arrived tired, it was also clear that the physical form of some players was not at its best during the Norway match.

"Not just Inter's. Today's football is different: we play a lot and at a very high pace, it's not always easy to recover and take to the field in the best conditions and if you're not at your best you can't give your all, which in certain situations becomes indispensable."