Francesco Acerbi is glad to be part of the Italy squad and reckons there’s ‘something special in the air.’
“The group is united, there’s something special in the air. I felt the same at my club before COVID,” Acerbi said at a press conference at Coverciano today.
Lazio were among the candidates to win the Scudetto before Serie A was suspended in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
“There are stronger teams than us [Italy], but we are a strong side too and we can chase the top spots. We have a special group and we can achieve something extraordinary,” the defender continued.
The Azzurri won the opening game of Euro 2020 against Turkey on Friday and will meet Switzerland in the second match of the group stage on Wednesday. Acerbi is expected to start on the bench.
“Giorgio [Chiellini] is a great defender, he played really well against Turkey, I am ready to play, but the most important thing is to go all the way through,” Acerbi said.
“I’d like to play, but for me it’s enough to be part of this extraordinary group. If I were Mancini I would not change the line-up against Switzerland, maybe I would play with one more player, me.
“You never feel tired during these games. Switzerland have good players such as Embolo and Shaqiri, they’ve been working with the same coach for a long time, but we’ll face them without changing our mentality.”
The 33-year-old will find a new coach at Lazio when the 2021-22 season begins, but he hopes to find also Christian Eriksen on the pitch.
“The most important thing is that he feels well now. I wish him good luck and I hope it was just a black-out. I hope he can return to play and smile,” the Italian defender said.
“I am happy about Sarri, change is to be welcomed, I am looking forward to it. I am sure we’ll have a great season, we thought Simone Inzaghi could reach an agreement, that’s not what happened but I am happy for him. He gave so much to Lazio, we gave a lot to him.”