Italy’s European Championship starts in Germany, three years after the Wembley triumph with Vialli and Mancini. A national team waiting to be discovered, passed to Luciano Spalletti, the coach who, after the scudetto won in Naples already this evening, at 9pm in Dortmund against Albania, wants to see his team leave everything on the pitch in the first match valid for group B. A difficult group, that of the Azzurri, because, in addition to Albania who speaks a bit of Lecce with the midfielders Ylber Ramadani and Medon Berisha veterans – especially the first – fromexcellent championship in Salento, there are also Spain and Croatia, who will compete in Berlin a few hours before the Italian debut, at 6pm. Spalletti finds Barella again, and this is excellent news for the midfielder. The extra man can be Scamacca, renamed the “centre forward of providence” just as AC Milan player Daniele Massaro was for Arrigo Sacchi at USA’94. Scamacca was among the protagonists of the historic season ofGasperini’s Atalanta, so Spalletti hopes to be able to count on the long wave of a physical and mental condition that can prove decisive in the space of a month (this is the hope). Without forgetting the contribution that he, always in attack, is able to guarantee the Argentine Retegui. Italy will try not to disappoint all its supporters, and Spalletti was clear on this point in the press conference. «The fans must know that we are giants at the moment. We have little time available to train the national team, but with a group with this availability and awareness everything becomes easier, and what is done in one training session is like ten times in a club”, he underlined in engaging tones. Important note: 10 thousand Italians and 50 thousand Albanians in the stands. The coach adds: «There will be many fans of our opponents, but we will have 60 million of them on the pitch because we will ask the fans to play it together with us». An invitation to participate, to support, to push an Italy that certainly does not start with the odds for the final victory. From a personal point of view, for Spalletti it will be the first time as coach at a European Championship: «The emotion is great – he confesses – but as the hours go by it becomes a fantastic tension, which brings happiness». Then a look at the opponents: «Albania coach Sylvinho prepared it well. We play with players who have great quality and know our football well, it will be a tough match.” After all the Albania midfield, with Ramadani in charge from the first minute, has little to envy of many other national teams present at the event.
Lineups (Dortmund, 9pm)
Italy (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Calafiori, Bastoni, Dimarco; Jorginho, Barella; Chiesa, Frattesi, Pellegrini; Scamacca. Ct. Spalletti.
Albania (4-3-3): Berisha; Hysaj, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani, Bajrami; Asani, Broja, Seferi. Ct. Sylvinho.
Live: Rai 1, Sky
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