Roberto Mancini is determined and confident the one who shows up in the press room on the eve of the Nations League semi-final scheduled for tomorrow evening at 8.45 pm against Spain. “The goal is always to win, we want to do it again tomorrow to continue improving the record of 37 consecutive useful results”, the words of the coach from Jesi.
To separate the Azzurri from the final at home, at San Siro, is Luis Enrique’s Spain, in what looks a lot like a rematch of the Euro 2020 semi-finals, in which the Red Furies surrendered only on penalties. Mancini talked about that match, underlining the difficulties encountered: «We suffered in that match, it was a semi-final and Spain put us in difficulty on possession, they have been doing it for 20 years and on this they are ahead of us. We have to improve this game situation, be faster »his words. Luis Enrique, for his part, had become the protagonist of a small provocation at the press conference, underlining that sooner or later the unbeaten streak would stop, but Mancini relaunched: “He’s right, sooner or later we will lose, but we wouldn’t want to do it before the World Cup in Qatar, in December 2022 ».
The difficulties for the European champion coach concern the absences and the limited time available to prepare for the match, given that the Azzurri met in Coverciano only yesterday morning, two days before the match. In fact, the two European champion center-forward, Immobile and Belotti, will be missing, both struggling with injuries. «In attack we have some problems, but there are Kean, Raspadori and many attacking players. We’ll see what the best solution will be, ”said Mancini.
When asked about the possibility of deploying Federico Chiesa as a central striker, Mancini did not expose himself: “I don’t know if he can do it, probably over time, yes, like against Chelsea”.
There is also space for a comment on the non-call of some young people of the under 21 who are showing off, Sandro Tonali among all: “That’s right, they have two important games,” concluded Mancini.