Italy staff member Attilio Lombardo is confident Alberico Evani can fill in for Roberto Mancini and explains the defensive set-up against Estonia.
It kicks off at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
As Mancini is still self-isolating with COVID-19, his assistant manager Evani and collaborator Lombardo have had to step in for tonight’s friendly.
Italy staff member Attilio Lombardo is confident Alberico Evani can fill in for Roberto Mancini and explains the defensive set-up against Estonia.
It kicks off at 19.45 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
As Mancini is still self-isolating with COVID-19, his assistant manager Evani and collaborator Lombardo have had to step in for tonight’s friendly.
“Evani was already a coach of the Nazionale at different youth levels before, plus we’re all together with him, so I’m sure Chicco is ready to take this team out without difficulty,” Lombardo told RAI Sport.
“We all hope the CT can first of all be healthy, then that he can be back with us as soon as possible. Roberto is crucial for this Nazionale, we all miss him and I think the players do too.
“Hopefully, the squad can prove today that the choices made during this period were the right ones. He has been following all the meetings, the training sessions and everything via Skype, so he wasn’t physically here, but was communicating with us throughout.
“It all went perfectly behind the scenes, now we hope to get some perfection on it too.”
There were some reports Giovanni Di Lorenzo was moved to centre-back, but it seems to be Inter’s Danilo D’Ambrosio instead.
“D’Ambrosio is more of a centre-back for the moment, but we have two players who can take on that more central role, so it’s a good thing to have such versatility.”
Federico Bernardeschi of Juventus is in the trident of a 4-3-3 with Udinese’s Kevin Lasagna and Freiburg winger Vincenzo Grifo.
“Bernardeschi has already played many games for Italy, while Lasagna has often been in the squad for training. Grifo impressed us and is working well,” continued Lombardo.
“What we want is for the team to enjoy itself and play the kind of good football that Roberto likes. I think we’ve got everything it takes to win this game.”