Claudio Ranieri has been awarded
the 2016 Enzo Bearzot prize for Italian coaches after taking
unfancied English side Leicester City to the brink of winning
the Premier League title, ANSA sources said Wednesday.
Ranieri, 64, was expected to struggle to keep Leicester in
the top flight when he was put in charge last year.
But the side from the English Midlands are seven points
clear at the top of the table with six games to go despite
having a squad assembled at a fraction of the cost of those of
big guns such as Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
The Bearzot prize is awarded by the Association of Italian
Christian Workers (ACLI) and by the Italian Soccer Federation
(FIGC), which will announce that Ranieri has won the gong
shortly.
The awards will give a special mention to former AC Milan
captain and Italy coach Cesare Maldini, who died at the age of
84 on Sunday.
The prize is named after the late Italy coach who won the
World Cup in Spain in 1982.
Bearzot died in December 2010 aged 83.
The previous winners of the prize, launched in 2011, are
Cesare Prandelli, Walter Mazzarri, Vincenzo Montella, Carlo
Ancelotti and Massimiliano Allegri.
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