The new, old coach of the Italian national team, Roberto Mancini, stressed the focus on facing France, on Friday, in the third round of the European Nations League football competition.
Mancini regained the tone of victories at the head of his country's national team's technical management in his second match in his second term when he defeated his Turkish host 4-1 on Monday in the first group.
Mancini was met with boos in the capital, Rome, on Friday, when the national team lost its opening match at home to Belgium 0-2, but his team made a remarkable display in the heavy rain during the first half in Turkey.
He told Italian television after the final whistle: “All the players gave an excellent performance today. “It was a difficult match and we dealt with it the right way, by applying high pressure and playing hard throughout the match.”
Italy imposed its complete control, deciding the result in the first half with a hat-trick by Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Fratesse and newcomer Michael Caiode, before Francesco Pio Esposito added the fourth goal after the break.
Italy has never achieved an away victory by a margin of 3 or more goals since defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 on November 15, 2019.
Most importantly, the “Azzurri” returned to winning ways under Mancini’s leadership for the first time since their victory over the Netherlands 3-2 on June 18, 2023, ending a wait that lasted 1,198 days.
Mancini told the Italian media: “We will try to regain our strength and be ready for the Paris match.” I'm confident. We have a lot of young, active and ready players.”
He added: “We know that we did not start this journey well, and it is a journey that may be long or short, I do not know.”
He continued: “But it will certainly require some time, especially since we only had two training sessions between the two matches, one of which was dedicated to recovery and getting rid of fatigue. However, I do not feel that time is our enemy at this stage.”
Midfielder Sandro Tonali appealed to the media and fans not to attack the Italian national team, a position that Mancini agreed with.
He said: “No one should be attacked, because in the end it is a football match. All we need to do is focus on what we see and football ideas, and that should always be in good faith, not in bad faith.”
He added: “We participate in the Nations League, so we can take some risks. “I don’t understand why no one showed great enthusiasm in the past when we reached the final rounds of the tournament on two occasions.”
He continued: “In fact, people now act as if the Nations League is the most important tournament in the world. “It may be an important competition, because we want to reach the semi-finals, but we know that we are in a difficult group, and there are still 4 more matches to play.”
On the other hand, the brothers Pio and Sebastiano Esposito entered the history of Italian football by equaling a 111-year-old record by leading the “Azzurri” attacking line as key players, recording a new achievement as their first family, three of whose sons represented the first team.
The match represented the first time that Italy's starting lineup included two brothers since the participation of Aldo and Luigi Civenini against Switzerland in 1915.
The Esposito brothers also ended a 24-year wait since Filippo and Simone Inzaghi shared the pitch for 11 minutes against England in November 2000.
The Esposito family also registered its name as the first family to have three of its children represent the first Italian national team.
The eldest brother, Salvatore, was the first to do so when he played his first international match under Mancini’s leadership against England in 2022, setting a standard that his two younger brothers followed in his footsteps.
Speaking about his determination to join them, Sebastiano recently joked: “After Salva and Pio, if I had not reached the national team, I would not have forgiven myself.”
