Roberto Mancini held a presser earlier today ahead of Friday’s debut against Turkey. He started by addressing the loss of Lorenzo Pellegrini: “We are very sorry for it. He is an important player, like Stefano Sensi. Both were deserving to play the Euro. He could have featured in several roles. It is a pity also for the way he got hurt, he was a full go in practice yesterday.”
On the lineup: “Nothing is decided yet, we still have two more training sessions. The players are very focused because they know they will have to make the difference also if coming off the bench.”
Mancini indicated their goal: “After everything that happened, now that the situation is getting better, it is time to give the people some satisfaction. We want them to entertain them, even if for only 90 minutes. The first match is always the hardest, but we have to mentally free.”
“This team has great spirit and empathy, and it has great hopes like my Sampdoria. I was confident three years ago, and I am even more now. We worked well, we have good players and an excellent group. We want to keep having fun and reach the final four in London. I am very optimistic.”
Mancini concluded by weighing in on the return of the fans: “It would have been ideal to have even more of them on the stands, surely a packed Stadio Olimpico would have pushed us even more. It would have been our 12th man, but going from empty arenas to 16k supporters is a first step.”