Guangzhou Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi is sorry he left the Italy job.
Lippi left the Italy squad after the 2006 World Cup and returned in 2008, but ended the disappointing second spell at the 2010 World Cup with a first round exit.
"I won the World Cup and left. That was a mistake. I should've stayed. Many players think if I had stayed, then we would've won Euro 2008 as well. I returned out of loyalty to those players, but it wasn't the same anymore, as many of them were at the end of their careers by that point.
"At the end of the year I will retire, but only with regards to club football. I don't want to sit at home. I could become the Coach of China, for example, or some other national team. I no longer have the strength to Coach every day, whereas the tempo is more relaxed with a national team."
