Suara.com – Napoli officially fired Rudi Garcia, Cristiano Ronaldo’s former coach at Al Nassr as a result of the team’s poor start in the 2023-2024 Italian League this season.
The announcement was made directly by the club with the status of defending champion of the Italian League via its official website on Tuesday (14/11/2023) local time.
Walter Mazzarri was announced as Garcia’s replacement and returns as Napoli coach after a decade away. Garcia was fired after Napoli fell 10 points behind the leaders of the Italian League, Inter Milan.
Club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis welcomed back Mazzarri with the tweet “Welcome back Walter,” following the announcement of Garcia’s dismissal.
Garcia was fired after the 0-1 defeat to Empoli at home on Sunday (12/11).
Napoli striker from Nigeria Victor Osimhen holds the Italian League trophy as he and his teammates celebrate this season’s Scudetto after the 38th or final match of the 2022-2023 Serie A against Sampdoria on June 4 2023 at the Diego-Maradona stadium in Naples. Tiziana FABI/ AFP.
The defeat was Napoli’s fourth home defeat in all competitions this season. Napoli’s Tifosi were disappointed and mocked their own team, especially after hopes of retaining the title disappeared.
Walter Mazzarri previously helped Napoli achieve success by leading them to win the Italian Cup in 2012, beating Juventus in the final. This achievement was Napoli’s first trophy in more than two decades.
Mazzarri left Napoli in 2013 after finishing in second place in the Italian League standings. He then coached Inter Milan in 2013.
Watford manager from Italy Walter Mazzarri. Ian Kington/AFP
However, the decision to leave Inter Milan was the beginning of the coach’s career decline. The reason is, he was immediately fired in November of the same year. After that, he managed Watford, Torino and Cagliari.
Previously, it was said that Napoli would recruit Igor Tudor to become their team architect. Tudor guided Marseille to a third-place finish in the French league last season, but left the club for “personal and professional reasons.”
Tudor also did a good job the previous season while coaching Verona. The former Croatian national team defender led Verona to finish in ninth place, after he took over the coaching baton from Eudebio Di Francesco, who was fired at the start of the season, according to Antara.