After the failure in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the Italian bank was not a particularly attractive position for any coach: Roberto Mancini took up the challenge and with new ideas and renewed enthusiasm the coach brought the Nazionale back to ‘life’ to take it this Sunday to the European summit.
“At first, when he told us to have the idea of winning the European Championship in mind, we thought he was crazy,” admitted captain Giorgio Chiellini this week, who experienced firsthand the humiliation of the playoff lost to Sweden in November 2017, depriving Italy from the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
“But it is a dream that little by little he instilled in us, until it became a reality,” added the center-back in statements to UEFA three days before Italy won the second European Championship in its history this Sunday at Wembley (1-1 , 3-2 on penalties against England), after 1968.
Leading an Italy without big stars and with Chiellini and his partner in the rear Leonardo Bonucci with only players with plenty of international experience, 56-year-old Mancini has breathed in a breath of fresh air.
The victory in the Eurocup firstly rewards his patient rebuilding work, carried out with the support of several of his former teammates at Sampdoria, such as his ‘almost brother’ Gianluca Vialli.
In May 2018, however, few people positioned themselves for the succession of Gian Piero Ventura. Carlo Ancelotti, first pick, politely declined the offer, and Mancini, then Zenit St. Petersburg coach and the most motivated for the job, took over.
– ‘Of few words’ –
His first job was to restore confidence after the fiasco against Sweden: “He is a man of few words, but he has built a good group and relaunched what had hit rock bottom after 60 years. With great serenity, he transmits calm and confidence “, Chiellini described then.
Reconstruction is calibrated first of all by the numbers: only two defeats (in the first months) in 39 games and a current series of 34 games without losing. During the tournament, he beat the national record of Vittorio Pozzo (30, between 1935 and 1939) and is one behind the record of Spain and Brazil (35 games without losing).
Before that flawless path to the European Championship, the Nazionale had already had a perfect qualifying phase (ten victories in as many games), and achieved a place for the final phase of the League of Nations that it will organize in October, also winning his first three qualifying games for the World Cup-2022.
But beyond the results, the former Sampdoria and Lazio striker (Italian champion with both clubs), has managed to build a young and modern team that treats the ball well thanks to talents such as Verratti, Jorginho or Barella , and that does not hesitate when launching the attack. All this while maintaining defensive solvency.
– Until 2026 –
Mancini did not stop repeating it during the Eurocup, and again on Saturday the eve of the final: he wants his players to have fun and his Nazionale to “entertain”.
Undaunted in the technical area, Mancini often talks to his men to place them on the grass or to advise them to move with a simple gesture.
He is backed by 20 years of experience and several titles from all the places he went through (Fiorentina, Lazio, Inter, Manchester City, Galatasaray).
Mancini has caused the rebirth of Italy by pulling 77 players called up in three years, 35 of them debutants with the ‘Azzurra’, and giving confidence to young people.
He, who regretted since his appointment the lack of Italian players in the Serie A teams, launched several young people such as Nicolo Zaniolo, summoned in September 2018 at the age of 19 when he had not even made his debut in Serie A.
In Italian football that is often hostile to young people, players like Nicolo Barella or Federico Chiesa have vindicated themselves with the support of Mancini.
In the European Championship, Manuel Locatelli or Matteo Pessina are clear winning bets for the coach.
A “Mancini promotion” that the coach will continue to outline for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: even before the European Championship, he renewed his contract until 2026. (AFP)