Roberto Baggio warned Italy players about their ‘biggest enemy’ while Alessandro Del Piero told the Azzurri they have a ‘great opportunity’ before a training session on Monday.
Five legendary Italian players, Baggio, Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Gianni Rivera and Giancarlo Antognoni, met Italy players before a training session on Monday.
The CT Luciano Spalletti revealed at a press conference attended by Football Italia what each of them had told the players before a training session.
What Baggio, Totti and Del Piero told Italy players
Baggio said: ‘The biggest enemy is responsibility when you wear this shirt, but you must face it, or you are going to lose it.’
Baggio reached the World Cup Final in 1994, and the penalty he missed against Brazil is one of the saddest and most iconic moments in Italian football’s history.
Baggio’s former Juventus teammate Del Piero added: ‘It’s true that there is pressure, but you have a great opportunity, and you’ll remember this pressure with a smile when you’re older. You’ll face the best in the world and nothing is better than this challenge.’
Del Piero won the World Cup in 2006 and reached the Final at Euro 2000 when the Azzurri lost in a Final against France. In that match, Del Piero missed two goals with the Azzurri one goal up in the second half.
Spalletti revealed that Antognoni said it was “nice to see many players who he had seen in the youth teams,” while Totti argued that it was “important” to go on the pitch to win and possibly have fun.
Rivera suggested playing attacking football. “He helped me with my duty because that’s what we want to do,” Spalletti concluded.