The Malta Football Association have appointed Davide Mazzotta as the new national team coach on interim basis, the local governing body of football announced in a statement on Tuesday.
Mazzotta fills the void left by Michele Marcolini who was sacked from the post earlier this month after disappointing results in the UEFA Nations League.
President Bjorn Vassallo announced the decision to appoint Mazzotta during an Executive Committee meeting held on Tuesday afternoon.
“Davide Mazzotta has been appointed interim head coach of the Malta men’s senior national team,” the Malta FA said in a statement.
“The Italian, who is making a return to the national team’s set-up after serving as senior assistant coach for three years between 2020 and 2023, will take charge of Malta’s remaining four games for this year.”
Mazzotta is a familiar face with the MFA set-up as the Italian formed part of Devis Mangia’s backroom staff during the latter’s stint as national teams’ head coach.
The Italian coach boasts some impressive experiences in his career having been part of Antonio Conte’s backroom staff at English Premier League giants Chelsea.
Mazzotta took the role of assistant coach with Mangia and when the latter was dismissed in September 2022 he was handed the reins of the team for the friendly against Israel and led the side to a 2-1 victory.
That turned out to be Mazzotta’s only game in charge of the national team as in November 2022, Gilbert Agius was promoted as interim national coach.
Mazzotta worked with Agius and Alessandro Zinnari for the friendlies against Greece and Ireland.
When Michele Marcolini took over as national coach in January 2023, Mazzotta’s contract was not renewed.
Last August, Mazzotta accepted an offer from Serie B side Salernitana to form part of their coaching staff.
But his stint in Italy has come to an end as Mazzotta has agreed to return to Maltese football as interim national coach and will be in charge of the team’s upcoming friendly against Turkmenistan on October 10 and the crucial Nations League match against Moldova, three days later.
The Italian coach will also oversee Malta’s final Nations League match against Andorra in November.
Commenting on his appointment, the 54-year-old Mazzotta said: “I’m honoured to be leading the Malta squad for the upcoming international matches. I’m very motivated to use all my knowledge and experience to bring the best out of the players and help the squad perform to the best of their individual and collective abilities.
“My familiarity with the players as well as the demands of international football makes me confident that, together, we can achieve the desired performance levels and results during this short period of time.”
Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo said: “Davide is a competent coach who is well known to the majority of the players currently forming part of the senior squad.
“The present situation made it imperative for us to appoint a coach who is familiar with the national team’s set-up and Davide fits the bill perfectly as he was a key member of the technical set-up during his spell as senior assistant coach where his tactical expertise and football knowledge were greatly valued by players and technical staff members alike.
“We are happy that Davide accepted to take up this role and we are confident that together with his staff, he can leave a positive impact in the next two international windows.”
The Italian coach will be assisted by Ernesto Javier Chevanton.
A former Uruguay international who played at the top level with clubs like Monaco, Lecce, Atalanta and Sevilla, Chevanton, 44, was assistant coach of the Under-19 team of Lecce that won the Italian championship in 2022.
