Italy, who won the European Championship only eight months ago, lost to North Macedonia 1-0 in the playoffs on Thursday and will now miss a second successive World Cup.

The previous failure led to the dismissal of coach Gian Piero Ventura and the appointment of Mancini.

However, the Italian soccer federation this time has decided to stick with the coach who revitalised the national team and led it to the Euro 2020 title.

In May, the 57-year-old Mancini was given a contract extension taking him to the end of the 2026 World Cup. 

“We need to start over,” Mancini said on Monday.

“I spoke to the president and we’re in agreement on everything … we’ll have time to discuss what we need to improve.

“I’m still young and I wanted to win a European Championship and a World Cup; we’ll have to wait a little bit for the second one.

“I like this work and I know that with the players we can once again create something great.

“Apart from the disappointment, everything else is moving forward.”

Mancini introduced an exciting brand of soccer after taking over from Ventura.

His team also broke several records, including setting a run of 37 unbeaten matches (before losing to Spain in the 2021 Nations League semi-final). 

As Italy prepare to start from scratch again, veteran defender Leonardo Bonucci said Mancini remains the right man for the job.

“What Coach has given us in these three years is something unique,” Bonucci said.

“He’s created a sense of empathy that’s rare to see at Coverciano [the Italy team’s headquarters].

“For us, continuing with him is just the logical thing to do; his ideas and human value are unquestionable.

“The result of a one-off match can change opinions, but those who live this every day only want to continue on this path.”

Italy will begin the rebuild with a friendly on Tuesday against a Turkish side which also missed out on Qatar.

“We need to start again with a new cycle,” Mancini said. 

Foda, who took charge of the Austrian team in 2018, said he will quit after Tuesday’s friendly in Scotland.

“I take full responsibility for the fact that we didn’t qualify for the World Cup,” he said. 

- AAP