Roberto Mancini said Moise Kean and Giacomo Raspadori will have their chances after inspiring Italy to a 5-0 win over Lithuania. ‘It’s in their minds and their feet.’
The Azzurri ended their run of four consecutive draws at 90 minutes, flattening Lithuania 5-0 at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio-Emilia.
There were eight changes from the side that drew 0-0 in Switzerland on Sunday and the youth delivered, as Kean scored twice, Raspadori got one and saw another deflected for an own goal, while Giovanni Di Lorenzo completed the rout.
“Despite losing so many players over the last couple of days, the lads reacted well. Obviously, the opponents weren’t of the highest quality, but you can’t always score five or six goals, so they did well,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
There was more good news, as Switzerland were held to a 0-0 draw in Northern Ireland, with a Haris Seferovic penalty parried. It’s reassuring after the Azzurri were stalled by the Swiss with Jorginho’s spot-kick saved.
“Anyone can make a mistake, the important thing is to stay calm, not lose our heads, and it will be fine.”
Raspadori and Kean are very young, but Mancini has shown he is willing to give everyone an opportunity.
“We already brought Raspadori to the Euros, we saw he has quality, but is young and needs to gain experience. Of course, it’s all in their minds and their feet. If they do what they need to do, work hard, remain organised on the field, then it depends on them, but they can have their chance.”
Jorginho wore the captain’s armband for the first time this evening, but was also one of the only players who wasn’t rested.
“I left out Leonardo Bonucci, who is important because he starts the moves from the back. We also lost Stefano Sensi, so asked if Jorginho could at least play one half.”
Italy have now set the new all-time world unbeaten record of 37 games.
“We’re happy.”
Bravo Kean and Raspadori !!! Only two more words to say………ciao Ciro!
Against minnows they should have had a hattrick
Kean 1 GAME – 2 GOALS
Raspadori 1 GAME – 2 GOALS
Ciro 10 GAMES – 2 GOALS
jeez, which is better ?
What’s ironic is if Immobile had scored 2 goals in this game, his critics will say: Well it was only Lithuania. Even my grandma would score against them. Anyone else and they should be starting upfront for the Azzurri at the WC. I guess that’s why those that comment on here can only be football managers on online games.
Immobile cannot play with this team, we have seen it over and over, lets move on, Keen is sooo talented. He would run circles around the immobile one. Be happy the future looks bright.
Immobile would have most likely also scored today
BUT here is the difference
Immobile would have needed 4 to 5 chances to score 1
As you saw today these young kids needed only 1 chance to score
@geedup no not true … everyone wants Ciro to score, no matter who the opponent cuz we know he can (as seen with club) i only wish he took the pk v Switzerland. i hoped for him to go down as one of italys great clutch / go to strikers like a Vieri, Luca Toni, or a Baggio of this generation. its just not gonna happen. he had 1st of many chances v Sweden in the 2 legs of that playoff in 2017 to make his mark. failed. theres only so many chances. im rather glad Kean and Raspadori got the nod today, who the former to me i dont trust and feel hes highly overrated. yet it worked out well.
Mancini is smart, he knows the definition of crazy is to keep doing the exact same thing thinking youll get a different outcome, in regards to starting Ciro every game.
Immobile is an extremely wasteful striker who needs tons of chances to score, something that you don’t get at the international level. Let’s move on without him, please!
Ciro Immobile, the Del Piero of this generation. lol
@who me – First of all, while you may have wanted Immobile to score, I’ll bet most others would have had a similar reaction to what I said if he did.
Second, seeing some of the comments on here about Kean not needing a ton of chances to score like Immobile or one chance 2 goals, goes to show how fickle football fans are. This is not Kean’s first cap. He has been given opportunities in the past and does miss some big chances, both for club and country – games against Netherlands and San Marino come to mind. I would love for Kean to be the number 9 long term but once the spotlight is on him in big games like it is on Immobile now, my guess is he will end up getting the same stick, probably worse – and fickle fans will be fantasising about the next new hope – this is nothing new.
As you said, Mancini is smart, so he would know not to make decisions based on fans’ demands, like so many other managers do. Immobile does more in games than just score. His assists and chances created go largely unnoticed – even for Chiesa’s goal vs Bulgaria, the penalty vs Switzerland. Mancini was not afraid to replace players in the starting team during the Euros – Berardi, Locatelli, so there’s no reason why he would keep starting Immobile, unless he sees other qualities that are overall worth more than being able to put the ball in the back of the net, which the other players don’t have.