Antonio Conte will make his debut on the Italy hot seat tomorrow as the Azzurri take on the Netherlands in a warm-up match in Bari ahead of next Tuesday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Norway in Oslo.

The appointment of the 45-year-old Conte came somewhat unexpectedly as he was still coach of Juventus until mid-July before he quit the Serie A champions just days after the start of pre-season training.

In the wake of Italy’s early exit from the 2014 World Cup finals, Cesare Prandelli resigned from his post. Days later he was appointed new coach of Turkey league giants Galatasaray instead of Roberto Mancini.

Mancini and former Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri were among the favourites to succeed Prandelli.

But following Conte’s resignation, Juventus acted swiftly by unveiling Allegri as their new coach. Conte immediately became the number one choice of would-be FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio.

Conte is considered to be one of the most emergent Italian coaches in circulation having led Juventus to three successive championship titles after a slump in the post-Calciopoli era. His downside is represented in him being unable to transform the Bianconeri into a force to reckon with in Europe.

Thanks to a sponsorship agreement with Puma, the federation chiefs were in a position to accede to Conte’s demands by making him the highest paid Azzurri coach ever.

Moreover, Conte is currently the third highest paid national team coach worldwide. At present, only Russia’s Fabio Capello (€9m annually) and England’s Roy Hodgson (€4.5 annually) have more lucrative contracts than the new Italy mentor who signed a two-year contract worth €4.1m per year.

That is estimated at more than double of what Prandelli used to earn during his four-year tenure on the Italy bench.

Whatever the implications this contract may have, Conte has the arduous task of reviving the fortunes of an ailing national team that, for the first time in 48 years, has failed to make it past the group stages of two successive World Cup tournaments.

Conte’s first objective is to reach the European Championship finals in two years time. Given the poor state of the Serie A and the Italian clubs’ disappointing results in Europe of late, Conte’s task is not an easy one from all aspects.

Italy were pitted in Group H along with Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta and Norway.

They need to collect maximum points from their opening three qualifiers – vs Norway (away), Azerbaijan (home) and Malta (away) before hosting Croatia – considered to be the toughest opponent in the group – on November 16.

Rebuilding process

Qualification for France would be Conte’s short-term target. However, it would be a gross mistake if the FIGC was to postpone a much-needed rebuilding process in favour of attaining instant success.

Accordingly, striking the right balance between Euro 2016 progress and assembling a new-look Italy side from the rudiments is critical at this stage.

To start with, Conte knows only too well that he needs to unearth suitable replacements for key players Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and, in particular, Andrea Pirlo.

The policy of most Serie A clubs to sign seasoned players and allow less playing time for young players will surely not help Conte.

Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Ashley Cole and Fernando Torres are among the ‘veterans’ who quit the English Premier League this summer and signed for top Italian clubs.

Fewer coaches are giving their youth products a chance to break into the first team and that will render Conte’s rebuilding process all the more complicated, making his selections restricted more than ever before.

At U-21 level, Italy have not left their mark at the UEFA Championship for an entire decade now.

That contrasts sharply with the successes the Azzurrini had obtained in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004 under three different coaches – Cesare Maldini, Marco Tardelli and Claudio Gentile.

Career-wise, Conte has taken a gamble in having quit club management at the age of 45 unless he decides to embark on a long-term trajectory similar to the one taken by Germany’s Joachim Loew.

He will have to oversee player development and enforce a certain style of play across all age levels of the national selections for the Italian team to prosper again.

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