“Everyone remembers that moment spent in Berlin, we on the bus had Gigi Buffon who spoke to everyone about this final and made us relive that emotion that we experienced at the box office in those times, and we also have this match to honour, we have to be up to it, it’s an added responsibility as is that of knowing to have fans all over the world. Against Albania and the Croatia the Italian fans were in the minority, but we knew that there were Italians pushing us on TV, an affection that you can still feel even if they are not present”. These words of Luciano Spalletti testify to how great the anticipation is in the national team’s locker room for the Euro 2024 round of 16 match against Switzerland on Saturday 29 June.
And so the coach closes ranks: “Beyond the fact that everyone remembers that moment, where we won that final, we had Buffon on the bus who spoke about this final to everyone, he made us relive those emotions that we experienced at home then. We have to be at the level of this confrontation, it’s a greater responsibility, as is having fans in Brazil and all over the world”, he declared during the pre-match press conference. Historical cycles and recurrences, like those ghosts that became real nightmares in the double confrontation that sent the Azzurri into the purgatory of the playoffs, before the hell of the second World Cup elimination: elements that, to paraphrase the coach, will serve to provide stimulus and motivation. But returning to the pitch, Spalletti has only one solution in mind, that of seeing the players “more relaxed. You can’t go and reason and do calculations, it’s those evaluations that sometimes condition you. You have to act, in the next round we go if we manage to win this match”.
