Italy CT Roberto Mancini confirms the objective was “to reach the final phase of the Nations League”.
The Azzurri face Portugal on Saturday night, and must win to have any chance of reaching the finals next summer, while even then they need a favour from Poland.
“At the beginning of the tournament our objective was to try to reach the final phase of the Nations League,” Mancini told Rai.
Italy CT Roberto Mancini confirms the objective was “to reach the final phase of the Nations League”.
The Azzurri face Portugal on Saturday night, and must win to have any chance of reaching the finals next summer, while even then they need a favour from Poland.
“At the beginning of the tournament our objective was to try to reach the final phase of the Nations League,” Mancini told Rai.
“We lost in Portugal with a very young team, but now we have the chance to beat them at San Siro. We need to focus on that, then we’ll see what happens in Portugal-Poland.
“Our first objective is to play a good game, to play well as we did in the last two matches.
“I want to see a team that attacks, above all for the San Siro crowd. It’s a stadium which os full every time Italy come, and that’s important.”
Mancini played against the Portuguese twice at San Siro in his Azzurri career…
“We went to the ’88 European Championships, we were a strong team and we played a great match [in a 3-0 win].
“The second we won with a goal from Dino Baggio, on November 17 [1993] actually. We hope that’ll be a good omen for the future and the Nations League.”