Italy World Cup winner Marco Materazzi feels the Azzurri will have an ‘open highway’ in the EURO 2024 knockout phase if they beat Switzerland in the Round of 16.
The Azzurri are preparing to meet the Swiss in the knockout stage in Berlin on Saturday, June 29, and even if they may be favourites, Materazzi warned his compatriots.
“There are no longer favourites and it’s never easy to beat Switzerland,” the former defender told Gazzetta.
“Yakin can rely on footballers who play in the Italian, German and English leagues. It’s a balanced team with good players and a goalkeeper like Sommer. Underrated, but experienced.
“They impressed me against Germany for their confidence and shape. However, Italy’s problem can’t be Switzerland. Italy must make sure they are not the problem,” he continued.
“If we go through, there can be an open highway even if they’d better not think about it, or it would become a narrow path. We saw one in 2006, leading us to the game against Germany. This looks easy, but it’s not.”
Italy beat Australia and Ukraine in the 2006 World Cup knockout stage before meeting Germany in the semis and France in the Final.
Football Italia will be among the accredited media in Berlin on Saturday, so don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to join our shows and send your questions and thoughts before and after the match.