After the recovery session yesterday, this morning at the Team Base Camp in Weggis, the Azzurre started perfecting every detail ahead of the huge match on Monday against Portugal. If Belgium do not manage to beat Spain on Matchday 2 of Group B (18:00 CEST), then the Azzurre will have the chance to secure their quarter-final spot in Geneva (last managed in the 2013 edition) in front of federation president Gabriele Gravina and general secretary Marco Brunelli, with a game to spare (21:00 CEST).

Three points will be needed, and the Azzurre have managed this in 14 of their 16 matches played against the team currently ranked 22nd by FIFA (Italy are 13th), including wins in all of their last seven. Cecilia Salvai said this to Vivo Azzurro TV: “The evening two days ago was very exciting and the win helped us to quickly recover both mentally and physically, but we must reset well and focus entirely on Portugal. We want to do it again and to manage this we have to fully concentrate on the next 90 minutes. Our first aim will be to prevent the ball getting anywhere near our goal.” This is an objective based on the perfect first game, in which the 31-year-old Juventus player (one of the best on the pitch) prevented the Red Flames from scoring, something that the Azzurre haven’t managed in the EUROs in 12 years, three editions on since the last time.

To raise the bar even more, they will be looking beyond continuing their defensive solidity shown against Belgium. Salvai made her 60th appearance for Italy that day and added, “I don’t think that it will be a first half like the one in Sion, we will start more relaxed and right from the outset we will look to get the game on the right track by being more threatening than the first match, making the most of our attacking strength. They are straight off a heavy defeat to Spain so they will be determined to respond. They have very dangerous players who are great in 1v1 situations, so we will need to be focused, both individually and as a team.”

Speaking of goals and attack, Ceci (also nicknamed ‘Contessa’ – Countess – by the staff for her elegance on the pitch) couldn’t help but crack a smile. It is impossible for her to not think back to 8 June 2018, the day when she got the first of her three international goals, indeed against Portugal, meaning that, at the Franchi, Italy could celebrate getting back to the World Cup finals after a 20-year wait. “Obviously I still remember that goal and if I score again I will be so happy: when I get in the opposition’s box I will try to forget that I’m a defender,” concluded Salvai, who also played in the last game in the 2020 Algarve Cup, won 2-1 thanks to an Italy comeback (goals from Linari and Girelli) before then having to leave Portugal because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The team will head to Geneva this afternoon, and tomorrow at the Stade de Genève (Switzerland’s third biggest stadium with 31,000 seats after St. Jakob-Park in Basel and the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne) there will be a press conference at 17:45 CEST before a final training session at 18:30 CEST.