The Sunday Independent

Mancini’s calls pay off as Italy make Euro statement

ROBERTO Mancini might be laughing now, but the Italy coach will not find it so easy to play down his team’s chances of winning Euro 2020 if they continue like they started.

The Azzurri put in a swashbuckling display as they flattened Turkey 3-0 in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Friday to start their campaign in style.

The victory marked their 28th consecutive game without defeat, leaving Mancini two games away from equalling double World Cup winning manager Vittorio Pozzo’s all-time unbeaten record from the 1930s.

But when asked if his side were now among the tournament favourites, Mancini laughed.

“It was important to start well here in Rome and I think we satisfied everyone, for the fans and all the Italians watching. (But) there are six games to go and there are a lot of good teams,” he said.

The second part of Mancini’s answer showed that while he does not want his players to face the pressure that comes with being favourites, his ambition is nevertheless to reach the final in six games’ time.

That does not seem like an unlikely proposition after an opening day performance that could not have gone much better, as all of Mancini’s big selection decisions paid off.

The question of who should lead the line has long been a cause of debate in Italy, but Lazio striker Ciro Immobile answered his critics in his club’s home stadium by scoring his first major tournament goal before setting up Lorenzo Insigne for Italy’s third.

Leonardo Spinazzola’s selection at left back ahead of Chelsea’s Emerson proved to be a great call as the AS Roma man also shone on a familiar pitch, earning the man of the match award after terrorising the Turks’ right flank for 90 minutes.

Domenico Berardi was preferred to Federico Chiesa on the right wing and was heavily involved; his awkward cross led to Merih Demiral’s own goal to calm any Italian nerves.

By full-time, the Azzurri had scored three goals in a European Championship match for the first time and all of Mancini’s decisions were justified.

Meanwhile, England’s performance at the European Championship can help in uniting the country, manager Gareth Southgate said ahead of today’s opening game against Croatia.

England, semi-finalists at the 2018 World Cup, are deemed one of the favourites to win the European showpiece but their build-up to the tournament has been marred by some fans booing players for the anti-racism gesture of ‘taking the knee’.

There were jeers from a small section of spectators at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough when players took the knee before England’s friendly wins over Austria and Romania last week.

“I think it’s time for the country to unite, full stop,” Southgate told the BBC on Friday. “If the team can be a catalyst for that then that’s brilliant.”

The Three Lions revived the country’s love affair with football when they reached the semi-finals of Euro 1996, which was held on home soil.

Southgate, who was part of coach Terry Venables’ team which lost to Germany in the last-four that year, said it was time for England to “remember what a strong nation we are”.

“We’ve had lots of division and sometimes we need to remember what a strong island we are, what a strong nation we are, the great qualities that we have,” he said.

SPORT

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2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thesundayindependent.pressreader.com/article/281874416351114

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