Prandelli appointed Genoa coach

MILAN: Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli was appointed coach of Serie A strugglers Genoa on Friday, a day after Ivan Juric was sacked following the club’s Italian Cup exit to a third division side.

The 61-year-old Prandelli will be officially presented by the northwestern port side on Saturday with his first game in charge at home against SPAL this weekend. Croat Juric was appointed for a third time as Genoa coach in place of Davide Ballardini last October while the club were 11th in Serie A. Since then they have slumped to 14th and also exited the Italian Cup on Thursday losing 10-9 on penalties to Serie C side Virtus Entella after the match ended 3-3 after extra time.

Prandelli had successful coaching spells with Verona, Parma and Fiorentina, before taking over Italy in 2010, leading the Azzurri to runners-up spot at Euro 2012.Two years later, Prandelli resigned from his post only minutes after a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay that sent Italy crashing out of the 2014 World Cup at the first round. Prandelli has since coached Turkish side Galatasaray, Spanish La Liga outfit Valencia and Al-Nasr Dubai. He was sacked by the Emirati side last January. A former midfielder, Prandelli played for Juventus and Atalanta, winning three Serie A titles with the Turin side and the European Cup in 1985.