Roberto Mancini told the Italy team that Gareth Southgate’s transformed England tactics would ‘change nothing’ for them going into the UEFA EURO 2020 Final.
The behind-the-scenes documentary called Sogno Azzurro aired on RAI 1 this evening and covered the entire tournament.
It showed the scenes of the players and staff preparing for the Final at Wembley against England, which they went on to win after a penalty shoot-out.
“When you reach the Final, more than joy, victory becomes a sort of sense of relief,” said Gianluca Vialli.
“The coach told me there would be no problem before the Belgium game, he was a little less confident ahead of Spain, so he’s always right!”
Mancini did indeed seem confident, because the footage of his pre-match pep talk was far shorter than any of the other matches.
“This would seem to be their formation, but it changes absolutely nothing as far as we are concerned,” noted Mancini after the early reports Southgate would switch from 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2. “We are here to play our game.
“I don’t need to tell you anything, you know who you are. It’s not a fluke that we are here. We are in control of our own destiny. Not the referee, not the opponent, nobody.
“You know what you need to do. You are a strong team. So good luck.”
It ended 1-1 on the night, Luke Shaw’s early goal in under two minutes cancelled out by Leonardo Bonucci in the second half.
Gianluigi Donnarumma made the decisive final save on Bukayo Saka after Jorginho had been denied by Jordan Pickford.
The documentary showed Vialli with his back to the goal, looking at the crowd throughout the penalty shoot-out.
He only turned around when he realised that Donnarumma had saved the crucial kick and joined in the celebrations.
Un viaggio “dentro” la vittoria: sogni, gioie, dolori e speranze dei protagonisti di questa avventura 💙🇮🇹🏆#SognoAzzurro – La strada per #Wembley INIZIA TRA POCO, dopo il TG1, su Rai1 e RaiPlay 👉 https://t.co/iu00CbDSeo#RaiEuro2020 #Euro2020 @Vivo_Azzurro @robymancio pic.twitter.com/H4Zicau5ct
— Rai1 (@RaiUno) July 15, 2021