“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 in those times as a cashier, and we also have this confrontation to honor, we must be up to it, it is an extra responsibility as is knowing that we have fans all over the world. Against Albania and the Croatia the Italian fans were in the minority, but we knew that the Italians were there to push us on TV, an affection that can still be perceived 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: “Aside from 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 had then experienced from home. We must be at the level of this match, it is a greater responsibility, as is having fans in Brazil and all over the world”, he declared during the press conference on the eve of the match. Historical courses 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 elimination: elements which, to paraphrase the coach, will serve to provide stimuli 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 think and make calculations, it’s those evaluations that sometimes influence you. You have to act, in the next round we go if we can win this match.”
