Italy coach Luciano Spalletti is wary of the perils of the Israel match after the scintillating performance against France. He warned his lads in the pre-match presser (via Sky).
“If we don’t approach the contest well mentally, it’ll be a trap. It’ll be difficult to field the same XI as in the past tilt. It’s impossible for everybody to shake off the fatigue. We might make four of five changes.”
Spalletti was delighted with the return of Sandro Tonali.
“We all welcomed him back with open arms. He’s an important player thanks to his qualities. He’s a new version of himself and is eager to showcase his skills. Everybody loves him, and he helps us a lot on the pitch because he can do everything.”
Spalletti assessed the current cycle of Italy.
“A nation like ours will always have 20 players to put together a strong squad regardless of the historical period. We have to be capable of understanding the moments. We don’t have a purebred like Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti, or Alessandro Del Piero now, but we have many versatile players who can adapt and play with sentiment. You can make the difference that way too. Against France, we were like brothers who formed a team.”
Spalletti dropped some hints about the lineup.
“Riccardo Calafiori is out, while Alessandro Bastoni will play. It’d be wrong not to have two of our defensive pillars on the pitch. Davide Frattesi needs to be assessed, but he says that he’s feeling well. The number of players who were called up made the difference, as excluding somebody was very bothersome. We are flexibile and showed it in the past game.”
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