Personality, even before technique. The championship d’Europa comes to life, the direct elimination phase begins and theItalia will face tomorrow against Swiss: Now you can’t make any more mistakes.
Spalletti wants the Italy of 2006
And if the technique inevitably fails in this National, it must not lack personality. The reference is that of the team that won the World Cup in 2006: “Beyond the fact that everyone remembers that moment – said coach Luciano Spalletti – we had on the bus Buffon who talked about that final to everyone and made us relive that emotion that we experienced from home at the time. We also have this match to honor, we must be at the level of this match that the players brought home.” Because it is inevitable that the Olympic Stadium in Berlin may be a cradle of sweet memories for every Italian fan, but current events say that the match against Switzerland will be anything but easy.
Italy, you need personality
Spalletti has dwelt a lot on the psychological aspect: “We have not yet been able to express the level that we can express: in some moments yes, but then we have not been able to maintain it over time. This qualification that came at the last second, which however in my opinion is deserved, must still make us think that we cannot allow those voltage drops as we had them at the beginning of the second half, in certain moments of the matches. The fact that you are now in the heart of the competition because you have qualified gives you that level that you must always show because there is no alternative. At the level psychological and in terms of personality I expect a little more than what we have managed to show so far.”
Mancini for Calafiori, doubt Bastoni
The Azzurri coach immediately entered the match by announcing the new lineup: against Sommer and companions, Dimarco will not be available due to a problem with his right calf, while Spalletti explains that “Sticks we’ll have to see tomorrow, he trained separately, he’s back a bit, he’s got some shape back, we tried to rest him, today he did his first training, but we’ll have to see what response he’ll give tonight. It will be Gianluca Mancini to replace Riccardo Calafiorihe has experience”. Then on the subject of the striker: “Does Scamacca play? He is a very clear player, he can score at any moment. He has flashes that tear you apart, I jokingly called him lazy, but then to show his qualities he has to be part of the team’s game and he struggles a bit on this. Whether he will play or not immediately is the only doubt I have – Spalletti says again -, I have two strong players. Both him and Retegui they will be part of the game, we’ll have to see who comes first and who comes after.”
The tests on the eve of the match: chances for Fagioli and El Shaarawy
In the training tests carried out today in Berlin, the coach lined up a four-man defence with Mancini and Bastoni in the centre and By Lorenzo e Darmian on the bands. Beans in the place of Jorginho, in a three-man midfield with Barella and Cristante. In front, Scamacca from 1′, with Chiesa on the right and the novelty El Shaarawy on the left. “Fagioli? If you have young people pushing, you need to create the space they deserve. He, with his naturalness, is suited to his role”. Tomorrow, there will be many illustrious fans present at the challenge in Berlin to support the Azzurri, such as the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abode and the ambassador to Berlin, Armando Varricchio. Present as usual was the president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravinabut also the president of Inter, Beppe Marottaand the number one of Lega Pro, Matteo Maranias well as several former Italian players such as Marco Materazzi and Gianluca Zambrotta world champions right here in the city of the wall
“I expect a looser Italy”
A watershed match, according to some, which will define the judgement between a good European Championship and an expedition bankruptcy: “I don’t know, in my opinion we need to do something better than what we’ve done so far to make this clear. We had this qualification that was very much felt, it was a difficult draw and the players had a bit of a problem. right awayas I probably suffered too. Now – Spalletti said – I expect to see them more relaxed, also because the consideration goes immediately to the direct clash. You can’t go and reason, to do calculations, to make those evaluations that sometimes influence your performance, you have to act. We go to the next round if we win this match… ”.
Spalletti also thinks about penalties
In training, coach Spalletti also had the players try out shots rigorin view of the possibility that the match against will not be decided within the 120th minute. Among the players who have attempted to take penalties, Scamacca, Retegui and Jorginho, who missed two against Sommer in the World Cup qualifiers. “Who are the penalty takers: “The penalty taker is the one who manages to manage the penalty well at that moment.emotion when it happens,” he explained. “We let everyone take penalties, but it’s not an ideal solution if we’re already thinking about it… If you try too many penalties, if you take them all well, I don’t know. In recent days, all the penalties have gone in here, they all seemed like penalty takers. Then maybe you play a little game and you already see something different. It will be important to have a fundamental depth of personality, we will do everything to try to win the match and we know that we have a very uncomfortable client in front of us. The results say it: there were teams that got through the round very well, even if they weren’t accredited, and this says a lot about the difficulty of playing any match.”
The pitfalls of Switzerland
It is inevitable to talk about the opponent: “My colleague Certain – Spalletti reiterated – he is very good, his is a team that is well on the pitch and which showed it against Germania what quality does it have. We know, from what we have seen, and from direct knowledge, that there are players like him Xhakaan international player. But these are all things that are part of the level of football that we can manage and that we must show with our quality.”
Spalletti and the message to Kvaratskhelia
Finally, a look back: “I am in contact with many of my former players, Kvara is one of these, we exchanged compliments on having passed the round. He is a footballer that no one knew before, but now that everyone has been able to admire him, he is of that top level that he can play against any opponent and in any team. The choice of these players who have the quality to go and play elsewhere opens up the possibilities for young people. Because there are many kids who push and we need to create the right space for them and have the courage to let them play. Talents will always be born. Now it’s a slightly different type of football but it remains the best solution to be able to create quality”, concluded the former coach Napoli.
Switzerland: the secrets of Yakin selection
