Roberto Mancini has got Italy believing again but they need one of their strikers to have the month of their lives to go far
This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2020 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 24 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.
Roberto Mancini has been busy putting together the biggest numbers in Italy since Pythagoras, who travelled to the country in 530BC to teach his theorem. Mancini took over shortly after Gian Piero Ventura failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and at the time of writing, has the highest win rate of any Italy manager (70%). “Back in May 2018, I was confident we could be back, because nobody believed in us,” Mancini said. He was right. The Azzurri have so far won 21 games out of 30 under his tenure, including 10 wins in 10 qualifying group matches. Moreover, Italy extended their unbeaten run to 25, five games shy of a famous record set by Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s.
Written by Luca Bianchin
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/31/euro-2020-team-guides-part-1-italy under the title “Euro 2020 team guides part 1: Italy”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
