Matthijs De Ligt praised Italy after the win over North Macedonia but warned them about the challenges ahead. “I watched them closely, and I think they play very well. They surely do not have a typical style because they attack a lot. I like that everybody got some minutes, it is important. They have faced good teams so far, but not the top contenders, like France, for instance.”
“I think I have improved a lot during my time with Juventus. I have two more years under my belt, and I have learned some stuff that I did not know at Ajax. Serie A surely changed me, I am a more complete player now.” He was recently criticized by Marco Van Basten for the lack of development: “When he talks, I always listen. He coached Netherlands, Ajax and was a great player. There is a lot of zonal-marking in Italy; here we play man-to-man, we have generally three defenders facing two forwards, so it is a different system.”
The top scorer of the Euro Patrik Schick gave an interview to the Italian newspaper Repubblica. “I am in great form, strikers need to be consistent. But the important thing is that team is successful. We will have our chances tonight against England. They have not created a lot offensively so far, we will not settle for a tie.” Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount will miss the game as they are isolating after Billy Gilmour’s positive COVID test.
The forward dished on his time in Italy: “I was not 100 percent ready for the difficulties presented by Serie A, maybe I was too young. I had a good season with Sampdoria, but when you move to a bigger team like Roma, things become more complicated. Unfortunately, I did not live up to expectations.”