Speaking before EURO 2020, Italy manager Roberto Mancini gave an insight into his side’s style of play, admitting one of their strengths is up front.
The Azzurri have started the tournament in electric form, winning all three of their group games against Turkey, Switzerland and Wales, scoring seven goals in the process. Ciro Immobile and Manuel Locatelli have both scored twice already, while Matteo Pessina and Lorenzo Insigne have also contributed.
Speaking about the side’s philosophy, Mancini told UEFA: “We are a team that always looks to play good football. Obviously, sometimes it doesn’t go our way.
“Maybe sometimes we’ve won without deserving it, but that’s football. This has been our philosophy for the past few years and it has enabled us to achieve some positive results, so we’ll continue in this way.
“We’ve got some great forwards in the squad, all of whom have scored many goals in their career, so we’re hoping that they will also be very prolific in this [UEFA] Euro 2020.”
There had been some minor concern over Immobile’s difficulties in translating his domestic form with Lazio over to the national team, though any such worries have been put to bed following his fast start to the tournament.
On Immobile, Mancini added: “He is very important to us. Sure, scoring goals is a forward’s job, but there are games where our forwards have to play for the team, provide assists and do other important things. What’s important at the end is that the team is able to achieve a positive result.”
Italy have qualified for the knockout stages of EURO 2020 and will face Austria in the round of 16.
