Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Alessandro Del Piero not ruling out one day coaching Italy

Former Italy international Alessandro Del Piero is open to one day coaching his nation, although he is happy with his current situation.

Del Piero, 41, brought his playing career to a conclusion last year and he has since been working as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia.

"I like what I'm doing now a lot," Del Piero told RAI television. "I had never even considered becoming Italy coach until a few years ago. Now I realise that it could be a very interesting, fascinating and difficult challenge.

"But I've not taken any steps towards doing that yet, so it's only an idea. You should never say never in life, though -- absolutely not."

For now, Del Piero is supporting the national team and current coach Antonio Conte, who he believes is doing an excellent job and should be convinced to commit to the position for many years to come.

A 3-1 defeat to Belgium on Friday has not altered that assessment with Del Piero optimistic of the Squadra Azzurra's chances at Euro 2016.

"Antonio Conte's doing very well," Del Piero said. "He's created a group which has grown, which qualified really well [for Euro 2016] and which has a chance of doing well at the European Championship, even if they are a young squad still in a transitional phase.

"Conte's just right where he is and personally I hope that he remains with the national team for as long as possible."

Current Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri is also rated highly by a man who scored 208 goals for the Bianconeri.

"Allegri showed last year that he's a great coach," he said. "You can't be at your best at every moment of every year, but they have the potential to get back in the running [for the Scudetto] and to put together a run of three or four consecutive wins.

"Juve are still a strong side, as can be seen from their results in the Champions League, where they are doing really well indeed."

Juve resume Serie A action with the visit of AC Milan to the Juventus Stadium on Saturday, with nine points still separating them from the current league leaders Fiorentina and Inter Milan.

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