Udinese, 17th in Serie A, fired its coach Gabriele Cioffi this Monday (22) and hours later confirmed the 2006 world champion, Fabio Cannavaro, as a replacement to fight to stay in the first division.
“Udinese announces that it has removed Gabriele Cioffi from his role as coach of the first team,” the club said in a first statement.
Cioffi replaced Andrea Sottil in October and since his arrival, Udinese have won just four league games. Cannavaro’s arrival, reported by the Italian media, was confirmed in a second statement hours later.
“Fabio Cannavaro is our new coach, Udinese is pleased to welcome the 2006 world champion and 2006 Ballon d’Or winner, who signs a contract until June 30, 2024,” said the club.
Welcome, Fabio Cannavaro!
⚪️⚫️ #ForzaUdinese #AlèUdin #WelcomeCannavaro pic.twitter.com/uwTZtCuq99
— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) April 22, 2024
Cannavaro, 50 years old, arrives accompanied by his brother Paolo as an assistant. The former defender of Parma, Juventus, Real Madrid and with 136 appearances for Italy, has not managed a team since leaving Benevento (from the Italian 2nd division) in 2023.
As a coach, the Italian spent most of his career at Guangzhou FC (formerly Guangzhou Evergrande), in 2014-2015 and 2017-2021, where he won the title of Chinese champion in 2019.
At Udinese the situation is delicate. With the team tied on 28 points with Frosinone, in 18th place, Cannavaro’s new team is the first team outside the relegation zone of the Italian championship.
Udinese played one game less, against Roma, which had to be interrupted after 20 minutes when they were tied at 1-1 due to the indisposition of Roman player Evan Ndicka. The match will conclude on Thursday.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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