Roberto Mancini feels Italy ‘should’ve been at least one or two goals up by half-time’ in their 0-0 draw in Poland, but the pitch was ‘in awful condition.’
The Azzurri continued their unbeaten streak, but still only have five points from two Nations League matches, drawing 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina and 0-0 in Gdansk this evening.
Roberto Mancini feels Italy ‘should’ve been at least one or two goals up by half-time’ in their 0-0 draw in Poland, but the pitch was ‘in awful condition.’
The Azzurri continued their unbeaten streak, but still only have five points from two Nations League matches, drawing 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina and 0-0 in Gdansk this evening.
“Unfortunately, we had numerous chances, especially in the first half, and I think we were penalised by the horrible state of the pitch,” the coach told RAI Sport.
“Aside from the result, which is not positive, the performance was good. The pitch is not an alibi, it was simply in awful condition. That’s going to penalise players with more quality, as it bounced around irregularly.
“The team attacked to the end, we had the chances and tried our best, it happens. We should’ve been at least one or two goals up by half-time, we didn’t convert our opportunities, never mind.”
Mancini surprised by picking Torino forward Andrea Belotti to lead the 4-3-3 formation this evening rather than Ciro Immobile.
“We thought it was the right decision. Belotti played well, we have three games during this spell and three strikers. Moise Kean is young and can certainly improve, but everyone did well.”
The lockdown measures are looser in Poland than Italy, so there were almost 10,000 people in the stadium.
“It was wonderful just to play in front of a crowd again.”