Andrea Cambiaso praised coach Luciano Spalletti for his tactical plan against France and assures they felt ‘more freedom to express ourselves’ on the pitch.
The Azzurri had a disastrous start at Parc des Princes when going behind within 14 seconds to a Bradley Barcola goal, but fought back to win 3-1 thanks to Federico Dimarco’s volley, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori.
“I would call this a triumph, it was a great performance, we showed what we can do and we are very happy,” Cambiaso told RAI Sport.
“After what happened at the Euros, we were all distraught and really eager to find redemption. There has been a lot of enthusiasm in the training camp over these few days. Seeing as we cannot cancel the summer, we have to wipe the slate clean and only look forward.”
Cambiaso hails Italy transformation
The Nazionale crashed out in the Round of 16 of EURO 2024 against Switzerland, so when France took the lead after 14 seconds, many feared a total psychological collapse from the squad.
“That was a great performance in terms of our pride and approach. We all feel more freedom to express ourselves. It’s not that we didn’t have it before, as the coach was always very open and helpful with us,” added the Juventus man.
The biggest shift has been Spalletti shelving the tactical experiments and moving to a 3-5-2 formation, which replicates the system that many of the players in the squad are accustomed to at club level.
“Playing with two attacking wingbacks like me and Dimarco, we had this possibility to overwhelm France, as they were defending with four and struggled with it. That was the winning move,” concluded Cambiaso.
Italy will face Israel on neutral turf in Budapest on Monday evening to continue their Nations League campaign, while France go head-to-head with Belgium in the other Group A2 fixture.