Mancini analyzes the victory against Turkey and looks to the future of the national team

The 3-1 victory over Turkey's Dall'Ara closes the first cycle of Nations League matches, opened Roberto Mancini's second adventure as coach and it's time for a first very partial assessment: "I'm happy to see a group that's forming, a great group, with talents that are growing and will grow and that we'll be playing for qualification in Brussels." Something is missing and will always be missing though: "I missed Vialli."

From feelings, Mancini moves on to analyzes and comments on the individuals: "The debutants Vergara and Doumbia did well. The second is further ahead, he makes the Champions League, he plays as a protagonist in the Champions League. Romano also played a good game. Romano and Vergara must play matches like these to raise the level".

Then there is Pio Esposito, who is already at another level, with his seventh goal in 13 appearances for Italy: "He is hungry to fight, to play and to score: he is extraordinary in this respect. In the space of a couple of years I believe he can become a striker who also makes the team play with continuity and calm, like Vieri and Toni. In terms of characteristics, Pio is more like Toni, in terms of physicality and technical qualities he has what it takes to become a great striker like Vieri and Toni has the possibility of having a great career of that kind in his power." And then Calafiori, who scored in what was his Bologna: "Extraordinary player on a physical, intellectual and footballing level: he is already one of the leaders of this group. A group that temporarily takes second place in the Nations group: "And in a group like this it wasn't a given, because Turkey is a strong team. We changed 9 men because we couldn't do it differently, we knew we would have lost a bit of fluidity, but we resisted at the beginning, we moved forward, we won it again and created a lot. I'm satisfied, it's another good step in our journey." Finally, a joke about the FIGC commissionership match, which will be played tomorrow: "I'm confident that everything can be resolved for the best."

If Italy awaits the outcome of the commissionership match for tomorrow, there is no shortage of agitation in Turkey too, with fans calling for the head of Montella and the president of the Turkish Football Federation Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu who was overwhelmed by the refereeing scandal in his homeland yesterday and suffered a slight illness before the match, which did not prevent him from attending the match even though he was accompanied to the stands by a member of the medical staff.