ISL: Italy legend Marco Materazzi retained as Chennaiyin FC manager

Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC are delighted to announce that they have retained Marco Materazzi as their manager for the third season of the ISL.

Under the coaching of Italian World Cup winner Materazzi, Chennaiyin FC finished top of the league stage in the inaugural edition of the ISL and became the first-ever franchise to reach the semis, where they narrowly lost in the semi-finals to Kerala Blasters.

Chennaiyin retained Materazzi as manager in the second season also with the legendary former defender guiding the Chennai-based franchise to ISL glory. On their way to the title, Materazzi's side created a new ISL record of winning five straight games before beating FC Goa 3-2 in a memorable final.

"I am delighted to continue with Chennaiyin FC for another season and would like to thank the owners for their continued support. We were very consistent in the first season and narrowly missed out on reaching the final despite being the last franchise to join the league. Last year our only target was to be crowned champions and we achieved that by showing immense quality and character.

This year the goal is again very simple and that is we want to keep the ISL trophy in Chennai. We are working very hard to build a very strong squad this year also and are going to give our very best to match last season?s success," said Materazzi from Perugia, Italy.