Federico Chiesa hopes EURO 2024 can give him an opportunity to ‘get back to the top’ of football after injuries dented his career. ‘I want to prove just what I am made of.’
The Nazionale are reigning Champions of Europe after beating England in the EURO 2020 Final at Wembley Stadium on penalties in the summer of 2021.
Chiesa was part of that squad and one of the few who remain a key figure three years later, though his career has been wracked by repeated injuries.
“After EURO 2020, I wanted to get into the top figures in football, but unfortunately I tore my cruciate ligament and had a long rehabilitation process,” he told UEFA.com.
“My objective has always been to get back to the top. I am 26 years old, there is time and I want to prove from these Euros just what I am made of.”
The Juventus winger scored in the EURO 2020 semi-final against Spain, which also had to be decided on penalties.
“The memories of that goal are magnificent, because it was such a hard-fought game, we really suffered, but managed to reach the Final.
“Now a new tournament begins, with new challenges and we have to focus.”
Chiesa sees Italy as ambitious underdogs again
It is a tough group, as Italy are up against Albania on Saturday, then Spain on June 20 and Croatia on June 24.
“What makes me smile is that at the start of the last Euros, there were many doubts over our Nazionale, on what we could achieve,” continued Chiesa.
“There are doubts now too, but we go out there just to show what we can do. That’s what we wanted to do in the previous tournament and we ended up winning it.
“Our main target right now is to get back to the World Cup, because Italy missed two and that is something that just isn’t right.”
So much has changed not just in the squad, but also the bench, with Luciano Spalletti taking over from Roberto Mancini in September 2023.
“The Italian mentality has changed with the development of modern football and Spalletti is following that path too, trying to keep the ball, try to create chances, while at the same time running as few risks as possible in defence.
“On a personal level, I played more centrally in my club, whereas Spalletti gives me greater freedom to either cut inside or go wide on the flank.”
That was not entirely evident in the friendly matches with Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Spalletti often shouted that Chiesa was spending too much time in that wider role.
always talking about the 2020we did not beat england in the full time we easliy could of lost i hope italy wins some games do not depend pn a shoot forza azurri i hope they go far
italy outplayed england and deserved that Euro. Best team in the tournament