Related News
Azzurri optimism ebbs away
The optimism which followed Roberto Mancini鈥檚 appointment as Italy coach in May quickly drained away following its 0-1 loss to Portugal on Monday as thoughts turned to Nations League relegation.
Mancini made nine changes to his starting line-up against the European champion as he continued his search for the right players to help him rebuild Italy following its failure to qualify for this year鈥檚 World Cup.
But the four-time world champion went down with barely a whimper to a Portugal side which allowed itself the luxury of resting Cristiano Ronaldo and Italy鈥檚 performance suggested Mancini has a long road ahead.
鈥淚taly always going downwards,鈥 Gazzetta dello Sport said, summing up the general sentiment which followed the team鈥檚 fourth competitive match without a win.
The only players to leave Lisbon with any praise were goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who at 19 appears to be the natural heir to Gianluigi Buffon, his AC Milan teammate Alessio Romanogli in defense and forward Simone Zaza.
Italy鈥檚 midfield was disjointed and even Federico Chiesa, who lit up its 1-1 draw with Poland on Friday after coming on as a substitute, failed to provide the same spark.
Mancini fielded Bryan Cristante and Jorginho in central midfield with Chiesa and Giacomo Bonaventura on the flanks in a formation which occasionally resembled the much-maligned 4-2-4 used by his hapless predecessor Gian Piero Ventura.
Zaza was partnered by Ciro Immobile in a two-man strikeforce but, not for the first time, Immobile, a prolific scorer for Lazio, was a letdown playing for his country.
With the Azzurri short of world-class players, Mancini insisted the only way forward was to test less experienced players even when they lack playing time at club level. 鈥淚t is true that we have many young players and we are in an experimental phase, however we must continue on this path and pick ourselves up as soon as possible.鈥
If Italy finishes bottom of the three-team group, it will be relegated to League B of UEFA鈥檚 new competition 鈥 a price Mancini said it would have to risk paying as he continued to experiment.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.