France, Italy turn to native soccer coaches

France and Italy named their new men’s national soccer team managers — a Frenchman and an Italian, leaving them among the few countries that have very rarely employed foreign coaches.

Pirlo, who earned 116 caps for Italy and won the World Cup in 2006, was set to lead the Azzurri after talks with Pep Guardiola over the role broke down.

Andrea Pirlo said Monday that he is no longer in the running to be the new coach of the Italian national team after a furore erupted over his sponsorship of Russian betting agency Fonbet. "I learned last night that I am no longer a candidate for the Italian national team coaching position," the former AC Milan and Juve