Cesare Prandelli was unveiled as Italy's new national team coach on July 1.
Formerly of Parma and Fiorentina, Prandelli was handed the arduous task of rebuilding a new-look Italy side to qualify for Euro 2012. The new Azzurri mentor is set to make his first showing on the hot seat in a friendly against Ivory Coast, at Fulham's Craven Cottage, on August 10.
Prandelli's official debut will be in Italy's first European Championship qualifier in Estonia on September 3 and his first home match will be four days later against Faroe Islands. He will seek to get the team off to a winning start as N. Ireland, Serbia and Slovenia - the other teams in Group C - will be no pushovers.
Given Prandelli's knack to introduce young players and the emphasis he places on quality football, he is being touted as the best man the Italian football federation could have got after an embarrassing campaign in South Africa.
The downside of Prandelli is his evident lack of experience with top clubs, with Fiorentina remarkably being the strongest team he has ever managed.
A number of veteran players, among whom Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso, have already announced their international retirement.
Presumably, these two seasoned players will not be the only ones facing the axe under Prandelli, who turns 53 on August 19.
Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is expected to be the team's new captain when he regains his fitness after back surgery earlier this week.
Prandelli has put pen to paper on a four-year contract and this denotes that he is there for the long term. Although attaining qualification to Euro 2012 is a must, Prandelli's chief mission is to rejuvenate an aging side by introducing new blood.
Antonio Cassano, Mario Balotelli, Fabrizio Miccoli, Thiago Motta, Rodrigo Taddei and Carvalho Amauri were all overlooked by Marcello Lippi.
In their three outings in South Africa, the Azzurri showed no quality and there seemed to be a missing link between midfield and attack. After the elimination, the strikers, particularly Alberto Gilardino, took most of the blame but it was pretty evident that Italy did not have enough talent in midfield to provide the front men with ammunition.
Reports say Cassano will be joined by a host of up-and-coming young players in the squad, including Alberto Aquilani, of Liverpool, Bari defender Andrea Ranocchia, Inter wing-back Davide Santon and new Juventus signings Marco Motta and Leonardo Bonucci.
They will all figure prominently in Prandelli's plans and the same applies for Giuseppe Rossi, currently playing for Villarreal, and Juve's Claudio Marchisio.
If Prandelli stays for the whole duration of his contract, he becomes the first Italy coach to keep his job for four consecutive years since Giovanni Trapattoni (2000-04).
Since Arrigo Sacchi stepped down from the national team job to resume his career with Milan in December 1996, Italy had no fewer than five different men in charge - Cesare Maldini (1996-98), Dino Zoff (1998-2000), Trapattoni, Lippi (2004-06), Roberto Donadoni (2006-08) and Lippi again for two years.
Not surprisingly, the Azzurri experienced mixed results over the years due to a lack of continuity. Now, one augurs that the federation will give Prandelli ample time to rebuild a team from the rudiments.
It will be anything but easy as the ones coming up from the youth academies are finding a brick wall and very few are making the grade and command a regular first team place.
Measures have already been taken to curb foreigners in the league but clubs, particularly the ones of Serie A, should start giving more prominence to their young players.
If this had to happen, Prandelli will have an easier job to help Italy regain some of the pride they lost in South Africa.