And so here we are. A beastly Sunday, as Fabio Concato sings, without a football championship. Free once in a while, thanks to the national team, to get their own way without having to jump on Dazn to find out what the hell is going on in a tournament where you start playing on Friday and finish on Monday evening. And then they call it «day» said Alfredo Provenzali ironically a few years ago, unforgettable conductor of All football minute by minute. It’s true: instead of waiting for the evening postponement, there was waiting for the election results.
Meanwhile, while waiting to see how Italy will be redone, Roberto Mancini is trying to rebuild the national football team, shaken by the exclusion of the World Cup in Qatar. After the second football apocalypse, the Italian coach must be acknowledged for having worked well. However it ends on Monday 26 September evening at the Puskas Arena in Budapest we already have in our pockets the certainty of being in the first pot of the Euro 2024 draw, and if we beat Hungary we close the group in first place and we qualify for the final four of Nations League.
Let’s face it: it’s almost a miracle. It had already been conquering the European Championship, in the magical night of London, and so is this sudden rebirth of the Azzurri. Having left again, with free-range guys like Raspadori and Dimarco, managing to precede teams like England and Germany, is not a trivial matter, indeed. Okay, Friday 23 September at the San Siro the lions of King Charles III looked rather bald. Maybe even not fully motivated. But Italy, with a team reinvigorated by its best youth, dominated them, allowing the guests only a couple of conclusions well neutralized by Donnarumma, for once little caught by the San Siro crowd. A beautiful Italy, in short. Re-educated and cleaned of the laziness of the old gurus with a full belly.
Mancini had the merit of not looking anyone in the face, rewarding the passion of a growing group, proud to wear the blue jersey. Giacomo Raspadori, 22, author with a ballistic jewel of the winning goal, is only the brightest pearl. Then there are Scamacca, Dimarco, Cristante and the old Bonucci, who has returned to his usual levels.
The yellow of Ciro Immobile
One problem remains: we mark with the dropper. And even if you have no real estate, Tonali, Verratti and many others, the problem remains for the moment. In this regard, it is worth mentioning a funny “detective story” starring Ciro Immobile. The Lazio center forward, afflicted by a muscular problem that seemed resolved, before leaving for Budapest was however stopped at Malpensa with the approval of a press release from the Federation which certified “after further investigations” the unavailability of the attacker.