Roberto Mancini remains optimistic about Italy’s chances of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The Azzurri, fresh off the back of their Euro 2020 victory, finished second in their qualifying group behind Switzerland, meaning that they’ll need to win two play-off matches to secure their spot in next winter’s World Cup.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Mancini first spoke about the Azzurri’s current position, saying ‘we’ve done something extraordinary, we’ve made millions of people happy, that’s the best thing, something we’re all proud of. But the European Championship is behind us, now we have to think about something else.’

He touched on how he and the squad feel some regrets following their second place finish in Group C, highlighting that ‘yes, but this is football, this is sport. Sometimes you deserve to win and you don’t. We deserved to finish the round much earlier. We let ourselves down a bit and now we have to roll up our sleeves and do a great job in the two games.

‘But I remain optimistic, just as I knew that our group with Switzerland would be difficult. I thought we would progress, but I knew it would be difficult. We dominated the match in Basel but this is football, fortunately we still have this chance and we have to do everything we can to go to Qatar.’

Looking ahead to the play-offs, where Italy will face Macedonia first before playing the winner of Portugal-Turkey, he said ‘we will find a way to see each other.’

Discussing if there would be any new faces in the Azzurri camp, Mancini suggested ‘that also depends on the moment in the league. There may be those who are fitter than others. The most important thing will be to have them all healthy.

‘There are a lot of players who are still in a phase of improvement and can come on stronger. Our team can still give a lot.’

He made a brief comment about Joao Pedro, who could still be called up for Italy. ‘He’s been playing in Italy for many years, we all know he has high technical qualities.’

Finally, Mancini discussed Roma talent Nicolo Zaniolo and if he likes the player. ‘Yes. There are many players who can improve a lot and for me it will be important to go to the World Cup because I think there are 10-12 players who can improve a lot going to the World Cup, if we go there.’

10 thought on “Mancini on 2022 World Cup qualifiers: ‘We let ourselves down’”
  1. Yeah you didn’t just let yourselves down. You let plenty of fans down. Especially how predictable this all was. You (Mancini) should have taken action to prevent all of this. Now get us out of it!

  2. Hopefully, we will have many more players who return from injury.

    Seria A clubs must look to develop Italian talent. I would even argue that most of our Seria B talent is better than 75% of the world’s top talent. Perhaps the technical staff, moving forward should look to Seria B as well.

    Additionally, Venezia seems poised to remain in Seria A at the end of this 2021/2022 season. Perhaps Venezia’s current talent pool could help boost the Nazionale as Venezia has a greater % of Italian players on it’s roster and who consistently play during the course of this season.

  3. The last 4 games where so bad and u did nothing to improve it by picking the same players who where not up to the challenge

  4. Mancio, just make sure the following occurs going forward and we’ll be OK:

    – Make sure Jorginho does not take penalties.
    – Integrate Spinazzola quickly into the team once fit
    – Mix the midfield up more – not always Barella, Jorginho and Verratti. The last two play too similar and aren’t a goal scoring threat and Barella has not always played at the levels he is expected to (if he is not playing well, take him off). With so many good midfielders, midfield is Italy’s strength and must be maximised during every game. Pellegrini, Locatelli Pessina and Sensi are creative and can score goals and should be played more.
    – Remove Di Lorenzo from RB – poor defensively and does not do enough going forward. Calabria is the better option.
    – If Chiellini or Bonucci are not available, Bastoni must be played ahead of Acerbi.
    – Don’t put so much faith in Insigne – he flatters to deceive. No reason why Chiesa can’t play on the left with Zaniolo or Barardi on the right.

  5. @Frankie…

    Would like to know your IRA anyone’s take on the idea of technical sporting management, going forward, looking into calling up more Italian and ITALIAN eligible nationals from seria B.

  6. I don’t know which I enjoyed more-the article or Frankie’s comments.

    Great comments, totally agree to not play arrogant players that are not fit for the task, every player must deserve to be there.

    I feel that Juventus is similar to this Azzurri as both are climbing themselves out of a bind.

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