Italy drew 1-1 in Paris against France and found certainties in the Nations League

Italy finds Italy again. The day after of the well-drawn match in Paris at the Stade de France against the national team coached by Zinedine Zidane does not simply bring with it a useful point for the Nations League group standings, but the clear feeling that Roberto Mancini's team has taken the right path in its second time at the helm of the Azzurri, also thanks to its leader and captain Gigio Donnarumma and the central defense Alessandro Bastoni, truly rediscovered after the horror night in Zenica.

An Italy, that of the Mancini 2.0 era, expected not only to finally qualify for the World Cup, after missing three editions in a row, but to make Italian fans fall in love again after the disappointments of recent years, culminating in the boos at the Olimpico in the match lost against Belgium a week ago.

A 1-1, last night against the 'giants' of France, signed by Bastoni himself, which gives Italy the awareness of having rediscovered its team spirit thanks also to the super performances of the Nerazzurri and the Manchester City goalkeeper. After the goal against Turkey in Bursa, the defender was once again decisive by giving himself another revenge to chase away and forget the ghosts of the bad night in Zenica in which his expulsion contributed negatively to Italy's defeat against Bosnia and to the nightmare of the third postponed World Cup in a row coming true. "It's nice to find the goal but then I just thought about not scoring another one - says Bastoni -. I'm happy with the result which gives us awareness and confidence to look forward". Zenica is now a little further away: "It's not an episode that ruins a career - underlines Inter's no.95 - being able to get back up is a great quality. We've always believed in it: it's a starting point, head down because there's still a match".

Worth mentioning is the super evening of the Italian captain, who with his saves kept Italy in the game, capitulating only on Olise's masterpiece free kick. Together with the two blue protagonists, but not only they deserved a good mark on the report card, the courageous performance at the Stade de France - which denied Zidane his first home win on the day he faced Italy as coach twenty years after the night in Berlin with the headbutt to Materazzi - also bears the signature of the coach, who wanted to see a team fight without fear and was satisfied: "The boys did everything perfectly - Mancini's analysis - they attacked as a team. It was a very positive evening. I wanted another step of improvement to be made in our journey."

And in terms of the newfound feeling with the fans, there is a boom in TV ratings which are still growing, match after match: 7,848,000 viewers saw the match, broadcast on Rai 1, which had a 40.8% share and was the top program of the prime time.

Signs as positive as they are encouraging on and off the pitch, expected to be confirmed again next Monday, when Mancini's team will face Vincenzo Montella's Turkey again in Bologna. A challenge for which the national team moved from Paris to the 'Niccolò Galli' technical center in Casteldebole where it trained behind closed doors. The match at the Dall'Ara will be refereed by the expert Polish whistleblower Szymon Marciniak who has already faced the Azzurri on four occasions who, under his direction, have never won.

This could be the right opportunity to do it.