Article by Alexandru Tomuțiu – Published Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 1:23 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 1:27 p.m.
Cornel Dinu (77 years old), the legend of Dinamo, made a brief analysis of Italian football, in collapse after missing the participation in the World Cup for the third time in a row. The “prosecutor” also found a culprit.
Italy were knocked out by Bosnia in the play-offs, on penalties, and missed out on their third World Cup in a row. Cornel Dinu believes that Italian football still has players that would allow it to have a very strong national team. Thus, he blames the failure on former coach Gennaro Gattuso.
Cornel Dinu: “Gattuso was a limited player and could only be limited as a coach”
“The academies in Italy, Juventus, it seems to me number 1, or Milan, have produced players in a single year of a financial value as much as all the budgets of our teams in the first division. It says everything by itself. Of course they no longer have players of what the Squadra Azzurra means.
My belief is that there was also a less inspired moment by bringing Gattuso to the national team as technical director. Gattuso was a limited player and could only be limited as a coach. He did not find the necessary valences to highlight Italian football
Italian football is also intoxicated by foreigners, as are the international regulations after that Bosman law, we know very well. But Italian football still has players from which a world-class national team can be made up. The education of these players in the national team I think was deficient under the command of Gattuso.
Gennaro Gattuso / Imago Images
There are also foreigners there, at the children's and junior centers at the clubs in Italy, because there is also this circulation of the working hand. It's no coincidence that we have Coubiș for example, doesn't it come from Italy? It is a promise for our football. And we still have players from this point of view”, said Cornel Dinu, according to fanatik.ro.
