Luciano Spalletti assures there will be ‘a great deal of motivation’ for Italy in the Nations League against France and Belgium, while preparing to cast his net wider for strikers.
The Azzurri have been placed in by far the toughest group of the tournament, as only the top two from Italy, France, Belgium and Israel will progress to the new quarter-final stage of the competition.
However, the coach is by no means irritated at the prospect of facing the most difficult opponents.
“This tournament was created in an intelligent way to raise the level of the teams who participate in it. These games give you the opportunity to keep on improving,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.
Italy already beat Belgium for third place in the 2021 edition of the Nations League and have not lost a competitive match against them since May 1972.
However, France are seen as the toughest candidates for the top spot, especially as they are coming off a narrow 2022 World Cup Final defeat to Argentina.
“Yes, because they are a national team with such an important history. The games against France have always been very tight, so there is a great deal of motivation to ensure we are ready.”
The Nazionale struggled to find strikers and Spalletti was asked about casting the net wider, but he assured it was not just about the centre-forward role.
“This week I went to visit Genoa at the training camp and saw Mateo Retegui in perfect shape, we have him back. It’s not just about the centre-forward, but also the wide strikers.
“Many of those we set our sights on are not playing regularly, some others are injured, so we can consider different choices.”
#Italia, Spalletti: 'Girone di ferro, ma siamo abituati. Centravanti? Possiamo fare scelte diverse' #UEFANationsLeague https://t.co/sRID5VZMMH
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) February 8, 2024
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Bonaventura,christante, locatelli,
Emerson, arcebi, darmian,florenzi ,
Donnaruma.