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You always return to places where you have been happy. Smiling and motivated, Roberto Mancini is preparing to begin his second spell as the Azzurri Head Coach. He will lead his first training session this afternoon, having returned to Coverciano to meet the press at the traditional conference to open the training camp.
“We had some very good moments here,” he began in the press room after expressing his condolences following the death of Sandro Mazzola. “It’s a pleasure to be back.” The triumph at Wembley is impossible to forget, but rather than looking back at past glories, Mancini is focused on a future that could bring new joy to Italy’s supporters: “Now we have to take the National Team back to where they deserve to be. I’m here to win and I’m sure we’ll enjoy some great moments.” Happiness and success go hand in hand: “To win, you need a team that plays well, enjoys itself and, every time they come together, wants to achieve something important. First and foremost, we have to enjoy ourselves. If you don’t enjoy sport, you can’t achieve certain results. We’re lucky because our job is our passion.”
TOUR DE FORCE. There is little time available: Belgium arrive at the Olimpico on Friday for the first of four matches in eleven days. A real tour de force that will inevitably force Mancini to rotate the 34 Azzurri players beginning work today at the Federal Technical Centre: “We have official matches coming up straight away,” the Head Coach warned. “We have to try to win them, also to climb back up the rankings. We don’t know how much time we’ll need, but we have to be quick in assessing the players we have and understanding what they can give us in the future.” Tactically, changes have not been ruled out; quite the opposite: “We’re open to any solution. We can play with two strikers, with a 4-3-3, but also in other ways.”
YOUTH AT THE FOREFRONT. Nine new faces and plenty of promising young players. Pessina and Kouadio, along with Romano and Zoma, were among the youngsters who arrived at Coverciano eager to show that they can be part of the Azzurri group. In this second spell in charge of the National Team, Mancini is once again backing youth with his actions as well as his words: “I’ve called up some young players because it’s right to get to know them and see them on the pitch, so that we can have a very strong team in the future.” The number of foreign players in Serie A remains high, while many Italian players prefer to play abroad: “We mustn’t complain; we have to find a solution to this problem. We need to go and watch them and be quick to select them, also so we don’t risk losing those with dual nationality. Zoma, for example, plays in the German second tier, which is a very good level. He’s doing well and we hope he continues.”
Mancini, who wished the Italy Under-20 Women’s National Team the best of luck ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against Spain, will also be able to count from today on the support and advice of an athlete of Diana Bianchedi’s calibre, making her debut as Head of Delegation of the National Team: “She made history in a very important sport, especially in my city (Jesi, ed.). Her experience can only be of help to us.” Meanwhile, in the opening rounds of this Serie A season, there have been fewer referee whistles and more goals: “I’ve always thought that football in Italy was played at a slower pace than abroad because so many fouls were being called. I think this is very positive. And the fact that we haven’t seen a 0-0 so far makes it more entertaining for those watching the matches.”
THE SQUAD LIST
Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Massimo Pessina (Bologna), Guglielmo Vicario (Juventus);
Defenders: Honest Ahanor (Crystal Palace), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Diego Coppola (Paris FC), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Daniele Ghilardi (Roma), Michael Kayode (Brentford), Eddy Kouadio (Monza), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Matteo Ruggeri (Aston Villa), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Issa Doumbia (Sporting CP), Nicolò Fagioli (Fiorentina), Davide Frattesi (Lazio), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Samuele Ricci (Como), Alessandro Romano (Cagliari), Sandro Tonali (Tottenham);
Forwards: Nicolò Cambiaghi (Bologna), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Sebastiano Esposito (Sassuolo), Samuele Inacio (Borussia Dortmund), Moise Kean (Como), Daniel Maldini (Cagliari), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Antonio Vergara (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Udinese), Mohamed Alì Zoma (Nürnberg).