The Azzurri were overwhelming in the second match of the Nations League and for a few hours even the critics will have to change their focus. Here are the keys to success in Montella’s home.
Three days to resurrect, erase the bad thoughts of the debut with Belgium, gain time and silence the trombones and critics at least for a few hours. Not much more, because the beautiful Italy that Mancini presented under the Turkish downpour may be enough for one night and already on Friday in Paris it will have once again come under the scanner of critics. It matters little that in front there will be Zidane’s super France who won against Belgium allowing themselves the luxury of keeping many starters out.
Mancio’s Italy, however, struck a blow and it was a spectacular blow. Revolutionized by the coach, who confirmed only Donnarumma, Tonali and Pio Esposito compared to the Olimpico, the national team plowed the heavy field of Bursa without leaving a way out for a Türkiye that was as much in trouble and perhaps worse than it. Not a good moment for Montella, a contested selector who the Turks would like to resign, so much so that they shouted it at him for almost the entire evening while the Azzurri were walking on his team.
Young and fresh, free-minded despite the hundred hours spent under the pressure of criticism, Italy reacted by putting the silencer on everything and everyone. There isn’t a single Mancini gamble that hasn’t been won. Not the choice of Kayode on the right, one of the best for physical condition and audacity. Not having sewn up the midfield with the touches of Fagioli, more ready than Romano, and the attacking nature of Frattesi. And not even having written a page of history by bringing together the brothers Pio and Sebastiano Esposito 111 years after Aldo and Luigi Cevenini. Inter’s Pio also scored (6 in 11 appearances), but Sebastiano did not disfigure himself.
The Azzurri did well, all of them. Not even Turkey’s nervous reaction in the second half derailed them because a few too many errors and a few lost distances were promptly corrected by a desire not to ruin the wonderful picture painted before the break. Three-nil at half-time, four-one at the end: there’s no need to delude ourselves, but Mancini’s first era had also blossomed almost suddenly on a cold evening and from there he had started the path that in three years would take him to Wembley.
France, which awaits us in Paris to reaffirm the superiority of this historic moment, has done us another favour, making the Italian evening perfect: Olise beat Belgium at the last minute, giving Italy an unexpected lead in the standings, with the prospect of playing for second place or locking down third in a less anxiety-inducing way than what the post-debut at the Olimpico had left as a legacy. It’s not a detail, given that this Nations League matters, of course.
