Euro 2020: France manager Didier Deschamps reveals Italy's potential weakness
France manager Didier Deschamps has explained that while Italy have a good team, they might lack the experience to win Euro 2020.
The Italians got their Euro 2020 campaign off to a winning start on Friday as they comfortably beat Turkey 3-0. All three goals came in the second half, courtesy of Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and a Merih Demiral own goal.
The Italians are playing in their first major tournament in over five years after failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2018.
Roberto Mancini’s squad looks impressive on paper, but there aren't too many players in the squad with experience of playing in big games in major international tournaments.
Lack of experience could potentially be a problem for Italy at Euro 2020
Deschamps has drawn parallels between this Italian side and the French team that went on to win the World Cup in 2018, and has admitted Italy will be a dangerous team despite not having a lot of experience.
“You don’t win games before taking the field, quality and talent are not enough. You need mental strength, aggression and determination, all things we had in Russia in 2018. It’s not easy to win, doing it twice is even more complicated. Ambition can’t become excessive trust,” Deschamps said.
“Italy can have the ambition to go far even if maybe many of their single players don’t have much international experience. For many Azzurri, this will be the first big competition, but the same was true of players like Mbappé or Pavard in 2018, so we need to be careful," said the France manager.
“I like Chiesa who had a great season with Juventus, but also Barella. Then they have Immobile and Verratti who are valuable footballers. Mancini has built something interesting, with youths who have improved quickly and obtained important results in the Nations League and the World Cup qualifiers. In addition, Italy lowered their average age, keeping some experienced players,” Deschamps added.
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The Italians looked impressive in their opening game against Turkey as they combined some fluid football with solid defending.
The core of the squad has won titles at club level, and they will look to add Euro 2020 to their honors this summer.
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