Pirlo bitter over debate that cost him Italy coaching job

Former Italy playmaker Andrea Pirlo, who was favoured for the national coaching post, expressed his bitterness on Monday over the debate which has led to him no longer being a candidate.

The 47-year-old had, to many Italian fans' surprise, become the favourite to be tasked with reviving the national side's fortunes after they failed for the third successive time to qualify for the World Cup.

He had benefitted from Spanish great Pep Guardiola declining an offer.

Whilst Pirlo had a stellar playing career -- including being a key member of the 2006 World Cup-winning side -- his coaching CV is short on success.

A contract with a Russian betting firm had only added fuel to misgivings.

"(I) learned yesterday evening that I am no longer a candidate to be coach of the national side," he wrote in a post on Instagram, adding that he felt the need to "clarify certain points".

According to Italian media, he was due to be named this week despite his only trophy success since turning to coaching in 2020 being a single Italian Cup.

Presently coach of United Arab Emirates side Dubai United, he failed to deliver when in charge of Juventus -- for whom he had sparkled as a player -- Sampdoria and Turkish outfit Karagumruk.

"I have followed with great bitterness the debate surrounding my candidacy," he wrote, whilst thanking Italy's technical director and former AC Milan teammate Paolo Maldini and his advisor Leonardo for their "esteem and confidence (in him)".

"I regret that a decision based on sporting criteria rapidly became a public controversy, in which intentions and ideas which do not reflect my personality were attributed to me."

According to Italian media, whilst Leonardo and Maldini preferred Pirlo to the prickly but also more successful Antonio Conte, newly-installed federation chief Giovanni Malago had been against the appointment from the start.

Conte -- who has won the Serie A title with three different clubs and also the Premier League with Chelsea -- is back in the frame for the job of coaching the Euro 2020 champions according to la Gazzetta dello Sport.