Eighteen years ago, the World Cup was at stake. Now, only the quarterfinals of a tormented European Championship in which we were saved by the skin of our teeth, thanks to the prowess of Zaccagni, who should start from the bench.
The coach solved almost all the puzzles. A different approach compared to the tensions that preceded the appointment with Croatia. Mancini will play for the suspended player Calafiori, While Good morning he is on high alert if Bastoni does not recover from the tonsillitis that has been tormenting him for a few days. «Yesterday he trained and we breathed a sigh of relief, but it will have to be verified», says the coach, relaxed after the controversies in Leipzig.
The players available to Luciano Spalletti for Italy-Switzerland
Dimarco he is unavailable and will be replaced by his partner Darmian in a four-man defense “or something similar”. The most important news, which we had intuited from the tests of these days, is the promotion of Fagioli, to his first as a starter “because we need to have the courage to create space for the young people who deserve it”. The Juventus player was liked by everyone Spalletti for the personality with which he entered against Croatia in a moment of desperation. The dark face of Jorginho, who will sit on the bench, is the confirmation of the decision taken by the Italian coach. The full-backs should be Chiesa and El Shaarawy, also making his first appearance in this European Championship. The doubt concerns the centre-forward. A relay is expected between Retegui and Scamacca “but I have to choose who starts the game and who finishes it.” Both have disappointed so far. Italy lacks goals from the strikers who are stuck at zero. «Gianluca can do it at any time, but he must give more continuity within the match». And more than a criticism it seems like an invocation.
So many changes. Five or six compared to Croatia. The hope is that, beyond men, in the old Olympic Stadium that makes our hearts beat and where Italy returns for the first time from that feat, a new team is born, free (in mind), confident and convincing. Spalletti hopes for it with all his heart because the promise made to the Italians, which is not to win the second European Championship in a row but make them proud, has not yet been maintained. “To achieve this, something more must be done”, Luciano admits without hesitation. In short, we need to grow up and we need to do it now. «The qualification was lucky but also deserved because it was obtained in a complicated group, the most difficult. Now I expect to see the team more loose. We were not able to express ourselves at our level, what we showed was little for our ambitions.”
The Swiss Bologna is tough, organized and has built a strong identity, which we do not have. A team that has grown over time, not the one we overwhelmed three years ago at the European Championship nor the one that, through two dramatic draws, sent us to the fatal play-off with Macedoniaforcing us to watch the last World Cup on TV. “We will do everything to win against a very uncomfortable opponent. If we want to get to the quarterfinals, and we want to get there, we know we have to win. There are no calculations to do and I expect a growth in personality.” Spalletti he used all the weapons to prepare the Azzurri, tactical and psychological: «Buffon he told us his thousand memories of the 2006 final and we hope we have absorbed them. We have this comparison to honor and it is an additional responsibility.” So is taking revenge on Nati “but certain feelings must be translated into the match.” We’ll see today if a new, perhaps exciting, story will begin. After many black moons we want a day in real Italy.
