Roberto Mancini's Italy side start their qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 against the side they ended the last European Championships against as England visit Naples.
The Azzurri defeated the Three Lions on penalties at Wembley in July 2021 to win their second European Championship trophy but failed to qualify for the last World Cup with North Macedonia knocking them out in a play-off in Palermo.
They are well known for their 4-3-3 playing style, but Mancini was quick to suggest that certain formation may not be the way they go in the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday.
He said "We have played in a different formation in our recent Nations League matches so we could mix things up. Of course, within the 4-3-3 that is where we feel the most comfortable, especially when it comes to playing an attacking brand of football however that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll play 4-3-3 on Thursday"
-
Playing "one of the best sides in the world"
Italy vs England is becoming a recurring theme in international matches, especially with the Nations League pitting them together in the last round of fixtures - a season that saw Italy win their group and England relegated to League B.
Il Mister spoke about playing the Three Lions, saying "It’s become a bit of a classic now - Italy vs England. This is the fourth time we’ve come up against them in two years, I think England are one of the best sides in the world."
He touched on the pool of players that Gareth Southgate can choose from, adding "They’ve got an extraordinary group of players available for selection, they’ve always been very unlucky and I think it will be a very tough match. We’ll try and play our own game because we want to start our campaign well - it won’t be easy but the same goes for both sides.”
-
An "emotional" first game since Vialli's passing
Thursday night's game will be the first Italian national team game played since the death of their Head Coach Gianluca Vialli. The president of the FIGC confirmed that for the game in Naples, the home team's players would be wearing a message on their shirts for the former Chelsea man who racked up nearly 90 appearances for the Blues.
Mancini admitted "It’s very emotional, obviously. It’s the first time we’ve played a game since his passing. We were very fortunate to have him as a team mate and also to have worked alongside him, you were lucky enough to have him in London and he’d almost become an honorary Londoner so you’ll have seen what he’s all about. It is with great sadness, but people like him will always be close to us, they are immortal and he will always be with us."
Mancini and Vialli had a very strong relationship, dating back to their days in a strike partnership at Sampdoria. He died in London in January 2023 at the age of 58.
-
New man a "traditional centre forward"
Eyebrows have been raised at the inclusion of 23 year old striker Mateo Retegui into the Azzurri selection. The attacker was born and has been raised in Argentina but qualified for Mancini's team due to his grandfather being from Sicily.
Currently on loan at Tigre from Boca Juniors, Retegui has scored 29 goals in 50 league appearances for the Buenos Aires outfit, therefore earning his call up to the Italian side.
When asked about his playing style, Mancini confirmed "He’s a traditional classic centre forward... I remember when Gabriel Batistuta came to Italy - this guy is very young, he still needs to get used to his teammates, it’s not easy but as I said he’s got a good head on his shoulders and I don’t think that it will take him too long (to get used to the group)"
-
Italy need to "entertain people and win matches"
Speaking about the failure of the Italian side when it comes to recent World Cups, Mancini admitted that the current stature of the Italian game "comes down to us, we need to try and use what we’ve done in the past, we need to go back to playing very well out there on the pitch, entertain people and win matches. I think that’s absolutely crucial to be once again what we were in the past Euro 2020, maybe something has changed in the intervening period but that doesn’t mean we can’t achieve what we have done in the past"
Italy have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, and despite winning the recent European Championship, Italy have not played a knockout game at a World Cup since they last won it in 2006.
