The waiting is almost over as Euro 2016 kicks-off this evening in the Stade de France as France take on Romania. FIGC vice-president Demetrio Albertini has written exclusively for calciomercato.com about Italy’s chances in the tournament.

Our National Team led by Antonio Conte has attracted much curiosity for several reasons; firstly, there are very few players who have played regularly for their clubs last season so his choices have been narrowed down. Of the 23-man squad, there is very little experience at this level and I believe this could be a major factor for us. In this squad, the players who have experience of playing in European competition are the ones who have represented their clubs in the Champions League and Europa League.  

I see France, Germany and Spain as being above the other nations. The French can exploit the advantage of playing at home like they did in 84 and 98 and they also have many talented players. Germany are very solid and their triumph in Brazil in the World Cup can start a cycle similar to that of Spain. Speaking of the Spanish, it will be interesting to see how they fair now they have integrated many new players to the squad. I also see Belgium as a possible threat and I’m also curious to see England, who look to be building towards the future. From an Italian perspective, Simone Zaza is a player I like very much and I hope he will be the real surprise of these championships. Many people say he reminds them of (Toto) Schillaci but I believe he’s more like Christian Vieri as he has the physical attributes. Another interesting element of this tournament will be the fact that it now contains 24 teams for the first time. For example, teams such as Iceland and Albania are relatively unknown quantities at this level and they could cause a surprise. When Italy face teams like this everyone thinks they have won before a ball is kicked and this can often be the downfall of our team.  

As regards my own playing experiences, it was 1996 and 2000. In my first experience we had a strong team and we played quite well. We lost with ten players against the Czech Republic and against Germany in the decisive challenge; we failed to win despite being the better team. In 2000 left Italy under ferocious criticism having lost the last friendly against Norway, playing poorly. This actually helped the group and strengthened the bond between the veterans and the talented young people, the generation that then won the 2006 World Cup. In that team was Del Piero, Inzaghi, Cannavaro, Nesta, Totti and Zambrotta. What a dressing room!  

Finally I have to mention the terrorism threat that has cast a shadow over the tournament has obviously left its mark. It is a great disappointment to see a celebration of sport tinged with great fears, such as those relating to safety. Knowing this environment as I do, it hurts me to see so much attention to security.


Adapted from an original article by Demetrio Albertini. Translation by Steve Mitchell