Gli Azzurri Rebuilding Project Has Begun –Italy Coach, Mancini

Italy coach Roberto Mancini says that the rebuilding project for Gli Azzurri [The Blues] has begun as they prepare for the UEFA Nations League Third-Place game against the Netherlands on Sunday, June 18 at the De Grolsch Veste, in Enschede, Netherlands.

Gli Azzurri failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and were defeated by Spain 2-1 in the Nations League semi-final on Thursday, June 15 at the De Grolsch Veste.

Mancini said the new path and direction for the Italian national team are already in place.

“This qualifying phase of the Nations League has been played with young players, who perhaps you didn’t even know,” Football Italia quoted Mancini as saying.

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“The project has already started. There was the U-20 World Cup, the U-21… We had Bastoni who fell ill the day before the start, we had some problems.”

Mancini added: “The new path has already begun because having reached the final phase of the Nations League with a group of young players is not easy. There were the U-20 and U-21 competitions and we had to leave some youngsters to the lower team.

“We had a great run and then there was the World Cup, which was the only negative thing. We reached the final phase of the Nations League for the second time where the best teams play.”

Gli Azzurri are one of the most prestigious European teams as they have won the FIFA World Cup four times (Italy 1934, France 1938, Spain 1982 and Germany 2006).

Italy have also won the Euros twice (Italia ’68 and Euro 2020).