Azzurri: Mancini starts era in style
- Anthony Privetera
It could not have been easy, to revolutionise this Italy, to take them back to the level of pride and respect that would translate to winning performances on the pitch.
The Italy of November 13, 2017, the one that made an entire nation cry and that is sadly already in the history books as the one capable - or perhaps it would be more correct to say incapable - of failing the World goal . A new, fresh and beautiful team was born from the ashes of Ventura's work. Winning? At the moment yes, but the real exams will arrive in June.
MISSING HISTORY -
It is closer than it looks. Meanwhile, however, it is necessary to draw a line and rewind Mancini's two years of management. With his 3-0 comprehensive win in Bosnia, Mancini too placed his name into the history books, winning a tenth consecutive victory, a figure never recorded in 110 years of history.
What convinces the Italian faithful the most, however, is the way this Italy not only wins, but plays. It does so while having fun and having fun, pressing high and trying to dominate the game .
ALL THE NUMBERS -
And the numbers do nothing but reflect this breath of fresh air. Of the 64 players summoned in these twenty-four months, Mancini has lined up a good 52 of them.
Twenty-two of these are novices, while the team that did not go beyond the 0-0 with Sweden had an average age of 30 years, 8 months and 15 days. Currently, the registry office states 26 years, 3 months and 18 days . It is the new that is advancing, waiting for the nights of June. Which, we hope, can be (again) magical.
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