After Sergio Busquets and Spain, COVID has hit another national team before the Euro as Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg tested positive. After the first case, Sweden coach Anders Valentin announced that they would not replace the Juventus attacker right away, as they hope he will miss only the opening match against La Roja. “There is a good chance nobody else got infected, we contact-traced everybody. They do not have any symptoms. We will soon have their test results.”
Alessandro Florenzi was the protagonist of the daily press conference from Coverciano, as transcribed by Sky Sport. He weighed in on the return to his old stomping grounds: “It will be very emotional, the Stadio Olimpico gave me a lot and saw me grow. We hope to start with a win. It will be a special occasion with the fans back on the stands, even with a limited capacity.”
He indicated his frontrunner for the Euro: “France are the favorites since they won the 2018 World Cup, but triumphing is never easy. Other national teams will try to challenge them, and we are in that group. Kylian Mbappé is the best player in the tournament, maybe in the world. He can be stopped only with a team effort. It not easy to do even when playing video games.”
On his form: “I feel great, Monday’s rest was scheduled. I am very eager to get things started. I am significantly better than in 2016 and way more experienced. This year was important to other members of the national team and me; we played in several key international matches.”
He explained the difference between Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte: “They have two different methods, on and off the pitch, but there is not just one way to reach success. This group is similar to the last Euro, but I think we have more quality.”