Roberto Mancini, coach of the ‘azzurra’, assured in the preview of tomorrow’s Italy-Argentina match at Wembley that it is one of the greatest matches in the history of world football and that it will mark “the end of a cycle”. Baptized as Finalissima 2022, it faces the teams that won the European Championship and the Copa América in 2021.
read also
“It’s a great pleasure for me to be here,” Mancini said. “Wembley is an impressive stadium especially because a year ago we were here celebrating being European champions.”
As to whether this match serves to lick the wounds of Italy’s absence from the next World Cup after losing in the playoff against North Macedonia, Mancini pointed out that “not much”, but that you have to enjoy the match.
“Italy against Argentina is one of the great matches in the history of football. It’s going to be a great game. Italy can put on a great show. It’s a shame, because I wanted to have all the players available, but I think we’re going to have a great match,” Mancini said.
Optimistic despite absences
The Italian coach has Federico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile, Marco Verrati, Nicolò Zaniolo, Domenico Berardi and Moise Kean out for this Wednesday’s match: “Many important players are missing, but I’m sure those who enter the field will play a great game.”
Regarding the future, Mancini insisted that this Wednesday’s duel “is the end of a cycle.” “But this does not mean that 15 or 20 players are going to disappear. After tomorrow some players are going to enter, because we need them to gain experience,” he added.