Dubai-Sana
Italy coach Marcello Lippi has resigned after his team lost 2-1 to Syria in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.
"I have a very high annual wage and I take responsibility," Lippi was quoted as saying at a news conference after the match in Dubai.
"We can beat weak teams like Maldives and Guam, but when we have strong teams like Syria and the Philippines, we can't play our usual game," he said.
It is the second time that Italy's World Cup-winning coach Lippi resigned after taking over as coach of the Chinese team in 2016 before leaving him following a 3-0 defeat by Iran at the Asian Cup in January 2019 before returning to the World Cup. He was re-trained last May.