"I learned last night that I am no longer a candidate for the Italy national team bench." It comes in the morning, after a sleepless and tormented night, Andrea Pirlo's concession: he will not be the new coach of the Azzurri. That dream, nurtured over the course of a long weekend, faded at the last moment. But it is the way in which this small sporting drama unfolded that left a bitter taste in the mouth of one of the protagonists of that Italy team which, in 2006, lifted the World Cup in Germany to the acclaim of Azzurri fans and the praise of the international media.

Had his name never been mentioned, perhaps Pirlo would have suffered less. This much is clear from the indignant outburst that the former footballer himself entrusted to social media. He had written a post shortly after midnight but modified it in the morning: "I feel it is my duty to clarify certain aspects. Over the past few days I have watched with great bitterness the debate that has developed around my name and the possibility of taking on the role of Italy national team manager," Pirlo writes. "Throughout my career, first as a player and now as a manager, I have always carried out my work in full compliance with the laws of the countries in which I have worked and the contracts I have signed." The reference is to the Fonbet case: "The professional collaboration at the centre of the recent controversy stems from my working experience in the United Arab Emirates and is exclusively commercial and sporting in nature," the champion reiterates. "To attribute a political meaning to such collaboration is to attribute to me convictions I have never expressed and that do not belong to me."

A thought goes to his former teammates who would have wanted him on the bench: "I wish to thank Maldini and Leonardo for the esteem and trust they have shown me. I know their competence, their integrity and the love they have always dedicated to Italian football. It pains me," Pirlo concludes, "that a decision of a sporting nature was quickly drawn into a public confrontation that ended up attributing to my person meanings and intentions that do not belong to me.

Love for Italy does not depend on a role. It is part of my story, my identity, and it will continue to accompany me, always."

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