Italy coach Roberto Mancini said he dreamt of Italy’s World Cup victory in a Final against Brazil, thanks to a Jorginho penalty kick.
The Chelsea star has missed three penalties in a row for the Azzurri, including two against Switzerland in the World Cup qualifiers.
Italy picked up two draws against the Swiss and failed to win their qualification group, meaning they must get their spot for Qatar 2022 through the play-offs.
“What we did over the summer is not casual, so we must believe in it and give our all,” Italy coach Mancini said in an interview with the magazine Sportweek.
The Azzurri were crowned European champions in the summer and must regain that spirit to beat North Macedonia in the play-offs semifinals and Turkey or Portugal in the Final, but Mancini is confident that the Azzurri will qualify for the World Cup.
“I dreamt that we’d win it in a Final against Brazil thanks to a penalty of Jorginho,” the former Samp star revealed.
“I saw he scored two penalties against Aston Villa and six in a row after the match against Switzerland, but I am not angry. He brought us to the Final against England. Perhaps, we’ll win the Final with his penalty. Who knows….”
Jorginho was born in Brazil but has an Italian passport. This past June, his agent exclusively told Football Italia why the former Napoli and Hellas Verona star snubbed a Brazil call-up in the past.
Mancini’s full interview with Sportweek will be released on Saturday.
Surely Mancini has learnt the painful lesson that Jorginho is not the man to take penalties anymore. I don’t care how many he scores for Chelski
It’s official – Mancini, as most Italian managers do after winning a major championship, has gone full mental.
No world cup again for Italia. A shame.
Making such comments only puts more pressure on Jorgi should we get one on the Playoffs. If we do get one, hopefully we are already winning by 3 goals so there is little pressure.
When are our players and managers going to realize just because a journalist asks you a question that you need to answer it.