Chelsea jokes aside, Giampiero Ventura has said he is hoping to pick up where Antonio Conte left off when he leads a new-look Italy for the first time in a friendly against beaten Euro 2016 finalists France on Thursday.
“I want to take Antonio’s project forward,” Ventura said on Monday, a week before making his competitive debut as manager of Italy in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.
“If I follow his path, then I know where to go in two years — Chelsea!”
Ventura, 68, is now realising a long-held dream of managing the four-time World Cup winners, and is therefore highly unlikely to follow Conte’s path to Stamford Bridge.
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He has more pressing concerns, namely maintaining the hopes of Italy fans and federation chiefs following a promising Euro 2016 campaign that was only ended by a dramatic quarter-final penalty shoot-out to Germany.
For the first time since their last World Cup triumph in 2006, Italy, who exited the past two World Cups at the first round, were feted on their return home.
For many, it proved the three consecutive titles Conte won with Italy’s strongest club, Juventus, in 2012/2014 — when Ventura was working across the city as manager of Torino — were no fluke.
Indeed, Conte raised Italy’s profile significantly during an impressive Euro 2016 campaign and Ventura knows his will be a hard act to follow.
“It’s extremely challenging to take up his mantle,” said Ventura, who is expected, initially at least, to keep faith with his predecessor’s preferred 3-5-2 formation.
Thursday’s test is expected to see Ventura stick with the game plan Conte used to such success in France, and possibly hand debuts to one of four squad players including Torino forward Andrea Belotti, who scored a hat-trick at the weekend.
“It will be a difficult match, France reached the Euro 2016 final and lost a very combative match,” Belotti said.
“They are all top level players and won’t give us much space, but with the coach we’re working on how to make life difficult for me.”
Influential Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti is expected to make his first Italy appearance since qualifying for Euro 2016, which me missed due to injury.
Although some have questioned Ventura’s credentials, Verratti said: “Faith is important to develop youngsters and in Italy we have a lot of talented ones.
“Ventura will make his decisions but then it’s up to us to earn and repay his trust.”
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
