EURO 2008OUT WITH the old and in with the new. No one can accuse the Italian Football Federation of being slow to act. Just four days after Italy were eliminated from Euro 2008, beaten in a penalty shoot-out by Spain, the federation yesterday gave coach Roberto Donadoni the old heave-ho, in the same movement replacing him with his illustrious predecessor, World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi.
Only the timing of the move comes as a surprise since it had been widely expected the Federation would not renew Donadoni's contract. In the space of one hot Roman afternoon, the Federation yesterday thanked Donadoni, then sacked him and then welcomed back Marcello Lippi.
In truth, Donadoni's fate had been sealed by Italy's loss to Spain here in Vienna last Sunday. For Donadoni to have retained his job, Italy needed to make at least the semi-finals of this tournament, if not the final.
Appointed in July 2006, in the immediate wake of the resignation of World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi and at a time when the Federation was rocked by the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, Donadoni faced a difficult task with his job tenure never secure. Appointed by emergency Commissioner Guido Rossi, he never appeared to enjoy the full support of the current federation regime.
For the last three months, Donadoni's position was made even more difficult by consistent media speculation that, barring an Italian success at Euro 2008, he would be replaced by Lippi. The federation had never denied reports they made contact with Lippi last March, on the morning after Italy lost a friendly 1-0 to Spain in Elche.
When Italian football's worst kept secret became public knowledge yesterday afternoon, coach Lippi greeted his reappointment by saying: "I'm very, very pleased and very motivated." Lippi will be formally presented to the Italian media in Rome next Tuesday when he may give hints about the new-look Italy that the Republic of Ireland will meet in its qualifying group on the road to the South Africa World Cup finals in 2010.
As for the disappointed Donadoni, he could only reflect on what might have been, saying yesterday: "It's a pity that this situation has come about because of a missed penalty kick. Over the last two years, my Italy side did much that was positive and that cannot be wiped out by this last game."
Zenit St Petersburg have confirmed Barcelona have inquired about Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who has emerged as one of the most coveted players in Europe following fine performances at Euro 2008. He has also been linked with moves to the Premier League and La Liga.
The 27-year-old is expected to leave Uefa Cup champions Zenit this summer with Barca seemingly at the head of the queue, especially after the player's admission that moving to the Nou Camp would be a "dream".
An adviser to Zenit sporting director Konstantin Sarsaniya told Sovietski Sport: "Barcelona have made a formal proposal to Zenit for the purchase of Arshavin. But we will only talk about this once Andrei returns to Zenit."
Arshavin's agent Dennis Lachter yesterday confirmed Barcelona's interest on Spanish television station La Sexta. "The transfer should be around €25 million," he said.
"It's time for him (Arshavin) to look for new challenges, and this is a great opportunity for him."
Many reports in Spain have raised doubts over whether the Catalan club can afford the Russia star after spending heavily on Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres, Seydou Keita and Daniel Alves already this summer.
But Lachter insists the move depends more on the desire of the player to play at the Nou Camp and not on finances.
"Everything depends on how interested Barcelona are and how much the player wants to play there," he continued.
"There are not that many clubs in the world that can match his pay at the moment, but the main reasons for leaving will be sporting ones."
Rustu retires
TURKEY GOALKEEPER Rustu Recber has announced his retirement from international football after his side's semi-final defeat by Germany on Wednesday.
Rustu, who is Turkey's record caps holder, made his 118th appearance in the 3-2 loss.
Rustu started the European Championship as Turkey's second choice, but came in to the team after Volkan Demirel was sent off in the group win over the Czech Republic.
