Gigi Di Biagio is confident Italy can “perform another miracle” against Spain in the European Under-21 Championship semi-final after beating Germany.
The showdown is on Tuesday at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT) after England-Germany.
“In order to win games of this level, you need a bit of everything: heart, style, teamwork,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Gigi Di Biagio is confident Italy can “perform another miracle” against Spain in the European Under-21 Championship semi-final after beating Germany.
The showdown is on Tuesday at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT) after England-Germany.
“In order to win games of this level, you need a bit of everything: heart, style, teamwork,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Federico Bernardeschi got the only goal of the game in a new 4-4-2 formation with no recognisable centre-forward.
“We only tried out some tactical situations very recently and didn’t get much time to work on them, but I wanted to use them in this match so we could draw out their centre-backs without giving reference points.
“I tried this option, it went well and the lads put in a fine performance.”
Federico Chiesa had impressed as a substitute against both Denmark and the Czech Republic, so why did the Fiorentina talent wait until the third match to start?
“It was due to many situations. A Coach sees all the training sessions and gets a feel for these things. Putting him in for the final half-hour can shake up a game. All credit to him for being ready when called upon.
“I know the quality of this squad and was relaxed after the Czech Republic defeat just as I am now. Even if we didn’t play particularly well against the Czechs, we still could’ve won that game.
“Journalists have to critique, I know that, but what annoyed me was hearing people call my players spoilt brats. It was something I could not tolerate, as I’ve been with them for seven years and it pained me that people couldn’t see their real qualities.”
Italy now have to face tournament favourites Spain on Tuesday.
“People said it was a miracle to get through the group phase after that defeat, so we’ll try to perform another miracle with Spain.”