Inzaghi to share his expertise at Dubai Sports Conference

Being hailed as the next in an illustrious list of Italian super coaches, Simone Inzaghi will be in Dubai this Saturday to share his coaching mantra at the 14th Dubai International Sports Conference, alongside France’s World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps and Wales national team boss Ryan Giggs.

A Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, the 14th Dubai International Sports Conference will take place under the theme “Future Football Accelerators” on Dec.28 at Madinat Jumeirah Conference Centre’s Joharah Ballroom.

Organised under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, since 2006, the Dubai International Sports Conference has become the world’s premium annual football forum where the sport’s top stakeholders assemble for extensive discussions about the future of the Beautiful Game.

A rising star in the world of football coaching, Inzaghi will discuss “Modern Training and Technology” alongside Deschamps and Giggs in the final session of the day, and his insights should be invaluable given the way he has turned around Lazio’s fortunes since taking charge of the club’s senior team in 2016 - first on an interim basis following the sacking of Stefano Pioli and then as permanent boss after Marcelo Bielsa’s dramatic departure after only two days in charge.

Inzaghi will be coming to Dubai after massive celebrations in Rome following Lazio’s stunning 3-1 win over a star-studded Juventus in Riyadh on Sunday for their second Italian Super Cup triumph in three years. They had defeated the same opponents 3-2 in the 2017 final.

Lazio’s win brought Cristiano Ronaldo’s five-year victorious run in finals to an end. The Portuguese, who is on Dubai Globe Soccer’s shortlist of nominees for the Best Men’s Player of the Year award alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, had been on a run of 12 consecutive wins with Real Madrid, Portugal and Juventus going back to the Spanish Super Cup in August, 2014.

Lazio had also defeated Juventus, the eight-time reigning Serie A champions, two weeks ago in a league clash at the Stadio Olimpico, and they are the only team to beat Juve in Maurizio Sarri’s reign as manager of the Italian champions.

“We did something magical - to beat Juve twice in two weeks is incredible,” Inzaghi told Rai Sport after the victory in Riyadh. “I think this was another deserved victory for a strong team that always believed in our ideas.”

Younger brother of former Italian striker Filippo, Inzaghi was coach of the Rome club’s youth team since 2010 and, taking charge of the senior team in 2016, he led the Biancocelesti to the final of Coppa Italia in his first season, where they lost to Juventus. In the league, they finished fifth, ahead of Milan giants Internazionale and AC Milan.

More than the results, what caught the world’s attention was Inzaghi’s ability to reignite stagnant careers and devise a system that allowed talented young players to realise their potential. And this ability surely points towards a long and illustrious career in football coaching, and a well-deserved spot on the list of Italy’s super coaches.

Fabio Capello, one of the first of Italy’s super coaches, will also be speaking at the 14th Dubai International Sports Conference, alongside Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar and Ferran Soriano, chief executive of Manchester City Football Club and its parent company City Football Group. The trio will be together in the opening session titled, “English Football Back to the Top”.

For the first time, there will be an all-ladies session at the Conference where Englishwoman Lucy Bronze, UEFA Women’s Player of the Year for 2019, and France captain Amandine Henry - two of the biggest stars of women’s football – will discuss the “Empowering Women in Football” alongside history-making French football referee Stephanie Frappart and Italy captain Sara Gama.

Joao Felix, one of the brightest young talents in football, and Serie A stars Romelu Lukaku and Miralem Pjanic, will also be at the Conference, sharing their experiences in a session titled, “Football – Changing Futures”, which will be moderated by former France national team defender Mikael Silvestre.