The Italian Daniele De Rossi, legendary former player of Roma, of the Italian national football team and of a brief stint at Boca, will be the new coach of "La Loba" until the end of the current season, after the dismissal of José Mourinho.
"After 18 years as a Giallorossi player, De Rossi will return to the role of coach and will make his debut on our bench in the championship match against Verona on Saturday afternoon at the Olimpico," Roma said in an official statement.
A while earlier, the club had issued a statement with the departure of the Portuguese: "AS Roma announces that José Mourinho and his technical collaborators will leave the club with immediate effect."
Mou was sacked after a losing streak that included just four points from the last five Serie A games and a Coppa Italia exit against Lazio, the city's classic rival.
"If Dybala is difficult for us to play", the coach had said after the elimination, before the departure of the Argentine who left the field with a discomfort.
The Portuguese was the great architect of the arrival of the Cordoba native to Roma. He was his darling and now he will be led by a coach who somehow has roots with Argentina. De Rossi gets to know the culture of our country up close during her time at Xeneize.
But De Rossi's strong story is in Rome. He is a true emblem and the player with the second most appearances in the club's history: he played 616 games, scored 63 goals and provided 54 assists.
De Rossi made more than 600 appearances in Rome.Photo: AFP
The only coaching experience for the player, who also had a brief stint at Boca, occurred between October 2022 and February 2023, when he took over as coach of SPAL, a team in Italy's Serie C. He took charge of 17 matches for the club, winning only three, drawing six and losing eight.
In addition, De Rossi had another short experience as an aide-de-camp at the Azzurri.
De Rossi's brief and memorable stint at Boca
The Italian arrived at Boca in mid-2019, in his short time with the club he managed to celebrate a goal: his dream.
De Rossi had the luxury of playing in a Superclasico.Photo: Maxi Failla daniele de rossi
De Rossi made his debut with the Xeneize jersey on August 18, 2019 in the 32nd edition of the Copa Argentina against Almagro. His start was dreamed, so much so that at 28 minutes of the first half he scored the 1-0, but after being replaced, the Tricolor tied the match.
When "el Tano" was replaced, the equalizer came and Boca was eliminated on penalties.
Daniele played only 7 games for Xeneize: one for the Copa Libertadores, five for the local championship and the aforementioned one for the Copa Argentina. Of all of them, only four did so from the start.
Although Daniele's time at Boca was short, he even had the pleasure of playing a Superclásico on River's field. It was 1-1, in September 2019.
Despite having a one-year contract, De Rossi made the decision to retire from football in January 2020 for family reasons. After his brief stint as coach in Italy's promotion, he will now have the luxury of being at the helm of one of Calcio's greats for at least six months.