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PALERMO, ITALY - NOVEMBER 18: Players of Italy celebrate during the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifier between Italy and Armenia on November 18, 2019 in Palermo, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Like all playmakers, Roberto Mancini is used to surprising. When he played, he wore the number ten shirt, the number that champions and the most talented players often have on their backs. It’s always been a symbol of excellence, and it’s also the number of wins that his Italy side have picked up this calendar year following yesterday’s victory – yet another record in what has been a fantastic year for the Azzurri. Italy’s previous record was nine victories, with this happening on four occasions (1990, 1994, 2000 and 2003). Furthermore, only four times before had Italy won all their matches in a single year (1/1 in 1915, 8/8 in 1938, 2/2 in 1942, 1/1 in 1946).
"I want to win all our games," said the Head Coach at the start of qualifying in extremely optimistic fashion. And this is exactly what his team did as Italy produced a perfect qualifying campaign for the first time in their history: 30 points from a possible 30 (37 goals scored, four conceded) and qualification secured with three matches to spare, another record in either a European Championship or World Cup qualifying campaign. Thanks to the ten wins, Roberto Mancini (ten games) has also equalled a record when it comes to the most matches won when both European Championship qualifying fixtures and matches in the final tournament are taken into account. The current Head Coach has drawn level with Antonio Conte (15 games), Cesare Prandelli (16 games and a EURO 2012 finalist) and Azeglio Vicini (18 games).
"I want to win all our games," said the Head Coach at the start of qualifying in extremely optimistic fashion. And this is exactly what his team did as Italy produced a perfect qualifying campaign for the first time in their history: 30 points from a possible 30 (37 goals scored, four conceded) and qualification secured with three matches to spare, another record in either a European Championship or World Cup qualifying campaign. Thanks to the ten wins, Roberto Mancini (ten games) has also equalled a record when it comes to the most matches won when both European Championship qualifying fixtures and matches in the final tournament are taken into account. The current Head Coach has drawn level with Antonio Conte (15 games), Cesare Prandelli (16 games and a EURO 2012 finalist) and Azeglio Vicini (18 games).
Friday’s great victory in Bosnia, Italy’s tenth consecutive win, resulted in Mancini surpassing Vittorio Pozzo, the legendary Head Coach that led Italy to World Cup success on two occasions in 1934 and 1938. "But he won two World Cups and the Olympics, I still haven’t won anything," said the Head Coach following the fixture in Zenica and before yesterday’s 9-1 victory against Armenia (Italy hadn’t scored nine goals in a single match since August 1948, when they beat the United States 9-0), the Azzurri’s eleventh in succession. The first win came on 20 November 2018 in Genk, when Matteo Politano’s goal in stoppage time was enough to beat the United States in a friendly. That goal, which came a year after Italy had missed out on qualification for the World Cup in Russia, was just the start of a run that culminated in yesterday’s high-scoring affair, during which seven different players got on the scoresheet (Immobile, Zaniolo, Barella, Jorginho, Romagnoli, Orsolini and Chiesa). A record for Italy in a single match.
From his first match in charge against Saudi Arabia in Palermo in May 2018, Mancini has called up 64 players in total. 24 of these have been debutants while 23 have scored, with Italy having netted 45 times in 19 matches (an average of 2.36 goals a game). No other Head Coach has done better in the last 52 years. The Azzurri’s great European Championship qualifying record has also continued thanks to the results picked up this year (34 wins and six draws in 40 matches), with Italy having netted for 27 consecutive games (the last time they failed to do so was on 8 October 2010 against Northern Ireland).
The 9-1 victory over Armenia was a continuation of the Azzurri’s great record in Palermo, with Roberto Mancini himself having bagged a brace in the city on 24 March 1993 in Italy’s 6-1 win over Malta. In the Sicilian capital, the Azzurri have recorded 13 wins (including the last seven they‘ve played there), drawn once and lost once in 15 games, scoring 35 (three for Immobile, Vieri and De Rossi) and conceding eight. And now this record-breaking Italy team will look to keep pushing forward following their celebrations at the Stadio Renzo Barbera with the hope that this is just the beginning.