FIORENTINA MANAGER PRANDELLI OFFERED ITALY JOB

World Cup guide – Italy
World champions Italy have offered Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli the chance to succeed Marcello Lippi as national team boss after the World Cup.

Lippi, 61, hinted back in March that he would probably step down after next month's tournament in South Africa.

Lippi won five Serie A titles and capped it by winning the World Cup.

“Fiorentina director Andrea Della Valle has told Italian Federation president Giancarlo Abete that the decision lies with the coach,” said a club statement.

“In the interests of the team and the fans, Fiorentina ask that the situation is cleared up as soon as possible so we can plan for the future.”

Abete has always maintained that a decision on who would coach Italy in the Euro 2012 qualifiers would be made before the team flies out to South Africa on 8 June, three days before the World Cup finals start.

The 52-year-old Prandelli, who is Serie A's longest-serving coach having been at Fiorentina since 2005, has managed to turn around La Viola from being relegation strugglers into qualifiers for the Champions League.

He has also managed Parma and Roma for a brief spell before leaving to care for his sick wife who later died.

Lippi stepped down after the 2006 World Cup but returned in 2008 after Roberto Donadoni quit following a poor performance in the European Championships.