Roberto Mancini, who is running for a second term in charge of the Italian national team, stressed the focus on the summit match against France, on Friday, in the third round of the European Nations League competition.
Mancini regained the tone of victories in his second match in his new term, when he defeated his Turkish host 4-1 in Bursa the day before yesterday evening, while the French team won its second victory at the expense of Belgium 1-0 after the first victory over Turkey to lead 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.
“All the players gave an excellent performance,” Mancini said after the final whistle. “It was a difficult match and we dealt with it the right way, by pressing high and playing hard throughout the match.”
Italy imposed its complete control, decisively defeating the score in the first half with a hat-trick by Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frazese 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 team returned to winning ways under Mancini’s leadership, for the first time since its 3-2 victory over the Netherlands on June 18, 2023, ending a wait that lasted 1,198 days.
Mancini said: “We will try to regain our strength and be ready for the Paris match.” I have confidence in the players. “Many of them are young, active and ready.”
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, 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 had 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's about a football match. All we need to do is focus on what we see, and on football ideas, and to always do so 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 be played.”
On the other hand, the brothers Pio and Sebastiano Esposito entered the history of Italian football by equaling a 111-year-old record, leading the national team’s attacking line as key players, recording a new achievement considering 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.”
On the other hand, after receiving their second loss, the Turkish national team and its coach Vincenzo Montella were subjected to a torrent of criticism and boos from the angry fans, following the harsh defeat against their Italian guest.
Montella confirmed: “I did not expect such an angry reaction from the fans, after everything these players have done over the past three years.”
The Italian coach was already facing harsh criticism, following the Turkish national team's sudden exit from the group stage of the last World Cup this summer, which was followed by a 1-0 loss to its French guest at the beginning of the week in the first round of the Nations League.
Even before the end of the first half, fans chanted loudly in the city of Bursa, which hosted the match, demanding the resignation of Montella and the head of the Turkish Football Federation.
Montella admitted at the conclusion of his speech: “They also booed the players after the first goal, which they did not deserve. “The atmosphere was great before the match, and I did not expect such a quick reaction after everything these players have done in the past three years.”
It is noteworthy that the Turkish national team is currently at the bottom of the group standings without any points, before hosting the Belgium and Italian national teams, on the 2nd and 5th of next October.
France's talents decide the victories
In Brussels, France made an amazing display of the enormous potential it possesses, when it played with a vastly different squad, which included three players playing their first international match, and was able to beat Belgium by a single goal to deservedly top the group.
In the absence of his most prominent striker Kylian Mbappe due to injury, new coach Zinedine Zidane had no choice but to make radical changes in the starting lineup for the summit match against Belgium, compared to the lineup that won 1-0 over Turkey on Friday.
But even with 9 changes, France controlled the course of the match and achieved victory in the last moments. It is true that the 1-0 victory was achieved after the inclusion of substitute players from the pillars, such as Rayan Chergui, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Oliseh, who scored the winning goal in the 88th minute with a wonderful individual effort. But there was a state of satisfaction with the role played by the new players, who played a few international matches.
Zidane said after the match: “It is true that we saw two different teams. “I felt that my team was capable of providing this type of performance, whether in Türkiye or Brussels.”
Lucas da Cunha, Andy Diove and Jeremy Jacquet made their international debuts, while striker Esteban Leboul started for the first time, and they all left a positive impression.
Zidane informed Da Cunha in advance to go on the field and “play freely,” and the player responded to his coach’s advice and performed amazingly. He touched the ball 97 times, and felt comfortable under pressure. Da Cunha said: “The coach gave me his full confidence and asked me to do what I do with the club and express myself. These are wonderful feelings and great joy. A few years ago, I was playing in the second division, and this proves that when you work hard, you can achieve success.”
Zidane appeared excited during the celebration of Oliseh's goal by running enthusiastically along the touchline, before kicking a ball on the side of the field towards the fans, happy and smiling.
He said after the match: “I am very satisfied with what the team did, and not just in handling the ball. After the match we played in Türkiye, on a much better pitch, we were very good in all aspects, especially in pressing.”
He added: “We made certain plans against the strong Belgium team, which also made us suffer, but we stood firm, played bravely, and were not afraid to penetrate into the opponent’s half of the field. This is what I like, and this is what we want.”
France will play against Italy on Friday, at the Stade de France in Paris, in Zidane's first home match as a coach, about which he explained: “Am I looking forward to the match? Yes. I wouldn't say we crave it very much; Because the players now need to rest. We traveled a lot and trained a little, but now we will have more time for that. “We will be happy to play in front of our fans, it will be a different match.”
