Spalletti delays the start of training by an hour, on the pitch at 6pm: the thirty degrees of Iserlohn weighs on him and it is better to ration his strength. Lucio closes in with his team and tries out the eleven that will face Switzerland tomorrow afternoon: the best referee, Szymon Marciniak. And Italy fears for its cautioned players: Pellegrini, Cristante, Donnarumma, Fagioli. Calafiori is not there, he will serve his suspension tomorrow: Mancini is raring to go, Buongiorno is a candidate, the tests are a mix, Fagioli is there, then he is gone, Raspadori is the joker, in defence Mancini joins Buongiorno and Darmian. Everything and the opposite, the 11 against Switzerland is a puzzle, including the module, which varies from 3-5-2 and 3-4-2-1, Lucio keeps everyone on the run: «I’m ready», Buongiorno offers, hunting for his debut. “I don’t know if I’m one of the best Italian defenders, I’m just trying to improve. I think I’ve shown my strengths in the defensive phase, but with the coach we’re working on the possession phase where I think I can improve.” Up front, Retegui confirmed, Pellegrini is at risk, his performance against Croatia didn’t please Spalletti. Fagioli challenges Jorginho until the end, Chiesa is ahead of Raspadori. Zaccagni returns to the bench, after the splendid goal in Leipzig. The Lazio player received a phone call from his idol Del Piero and his dream has come true. And that goal in Leipzig will be buzzing around in his head for a long time. “I didn’t even realize it was the last action. As soon as I saw Calafiori carrying the ball and their defense getting tighter and tighter, I stayed in my natural position and when the ball came to me I didn’t think twice. The celebration was fantastic, with the whole bench, with all the staff, all the guys. Some of us hurt our ribs because we were crushed together. But it was really exciting. Then, Alex’s phone call in the night made me happy.” Now he dreams of a repeat against Switzerland, so as not to stop the race to Berlin. That goal is almost the turning point. “Switzerland has shown they are a good team, we have studied them. They know how to stay very compact, they play for each other. It will take a great performance to beat them.”
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