The furious Luciano Spalletti, capable of going in an instant from the joy of a last-gasp qualification to a vehement outburst against journalists during the press conference in the ‘belly’ of the Leipzig Arena. Immediately after Italy’s draw with Croatia, the Italian coach staged a high-tension and unexpected reaction, including allusions, harsh words, pacts and poisons, which had already seen its first attack on Sky TV, with in Fabio Capello studio. All this in relation to a national team defined as “too cautious” and defended with a drawn sword by the coach on this level by the technical commissioner who instead diverted the question to the issue of a “too timid team”. And as happened in the days of Totti’s Roma (then there was talk of ‘mice’) and his brief experience at Inter, this time too at the European Championships in front of the international press, Spalletti pointed the finger at the ‘spies’ who leak confidential news. Whether it was the adrenaline of the finale, the pebbles left in the shoes, the character, the heavy and excessive criticism or the desire to unite the group in a sort of “us against everyone”, the result was sensational.
ANSA Agency Euro 2024: Croatia Italy 1-1, Zaccagni takes us to the round of 16 NEWS and PHOTOS The Italian equalizer in the 90th minute +8. The next opponent is Switzerland At the first question relating to a sort of pact between the coach and the team on the lineup to be fielded against Croatia, the coach was harsh: “Translate the word pact better for me – Spalletti exploded – Well, in my opinion they told him this and it’s right to say it again. Why is that? How old are you (51, the journalist’s answer) You still have 14 years of blowjobs to reach my age… ears and I have to see with our eyes. What is the problem for others? They are weaknesses of those who tell things. There is an internal environment and an external environment and an internal environment and if someone tells the internal things, it harms the national team.” Spaletti’s outburst probably arose from a misunderstanding linked to an episode in which a member of the staff of the FIGC president, Gravina, was present during a conversation with some players; the follow-up in the middle of the night, with the coach’s apologetic phone call to the journalists to whom he had spoken animatedly in the post-match conference in response to questions. The clarification phone calls began while the plane that was supposed to take the national football team back to Dortmund was taxiing on the Leipzig runway before taking off for a return to Iserlohn, Italy’s headquarters for the European Championships in Germany, which took place late at night ( 3.40am), while today all Italy’s players will have a day of rest and will be able to take advantage of the afternoon off and return after dinner.
Spalletti bemoans ‘poison’ after last-gasp Italy progress
A press conference after Italy-Croatia that seemed to never end and in which Spalletti dispelled all fears by speaking of the Azzurri’s ‘poison’ that can serve as fuel: “Are you afraid? But I’m afraid. If I was afraid I would come to see the matches like you. If I didn’t want to be afraid I would do like you, your job and I would come to watch the matches and I wasn’t afraid. I haven’t slept at night since I was at Empoli, it’s normal can it happen? One can do the analysis, but don’t take the piss out of us because we lost a game. I’m not envious of a journalist who writes a good article, but I don’t want him to bother me again more pressure than people put on me. I react because I inject the poison myself.”
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
