Buongiorno is celebrating a special anniversary: exactly a year ago, on 18 June 2023, Alessandro Buongiorno made his Italy debut. It arrived in the Azzurri’s 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in the Nations League third place play-off. The Torino defender wasn’t named in the initial squad, but Alessandro Bastoni’s withdrawal presented him with a big chance. A year later, he’s at EURO 2024 with Italy: “It’s a special feeling every time; we’re representing millions of Italians and thus feel the responsibility to do well, to do our all to win matches and to play well,” said Buongiorno to UEFA.com. “It was a special day when I made my debut. I joined up with the group the day before our match against Spain and didn’t expect to play against the Netherlands. It was a wonderful moment. I couldn’t quite believe it, but then I played with a real sense of calm and it went well.”

Chiellini and Bonucci are no longer at the heart of the Italy defence, which has entered a new era. The likes of Bastoni, Calafiori and Buongiorno are all competing to be part of the backline: “We’re responding well and need to ensure that we’re ready. When we went to the US, we had a chance to speak to Chiellini and Bonucci, who gave us some important advice. From our perspective, we need to follow in their footsteps and listen to the Coach’s advice so that we can do our very best.”

Buongiorno has something in common with Chiellini off the pitch: both studied Business Administration. “Studying and culture open your mind, allowing you to think in a better way on the pitch, to better reflect on match situations, and to better understand what the coach asks of you,” explained Buongiorno. “Obviously, it isn’t easy delving into books in the evening when you’ve had a training session earlier on in the day. However, that’s what’s required and it’s very important.”

Against Albania, Bastoni’s goal and Calafiori’s performance highlighted how the role of a defender has become more extensive compared to a few years ago: “Every player must be able to do a bit of everything. In addition to defending their goal, a defender must contribute to the team’s build-up play. It’s an aspect we work on a lot. This allows the team to start to put moves together and play in the best way possible.”

Buongiorno, who described Bajrami’s opener for Albania after 23 seconds as “a real blow to the heart”, spoke about the team’s reaction: “We recovered immediately, quickly scoring an equaliser and then taking the lead. That reaction is very much a sign that we’re alive and kicking. There are many things to be optimistic about, including the way we played and the way we managed to keep the ball. There are moments where you have to move the ball around a bit longer and other times where you have to go for it and inflict damage. We chose our moments well and also got it right in terms of our intensity and desire to turn the game around and press our opponents.”

From Albania to Spain, whose current side is different to the team that contained Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets: De La Fuente’s men are a bit more direct in their play, making use of the wings. “It’ll be a tough match where we’ll have to try to keep possession when they press us. When they have the ball, we’ll need to limit their wingers and prevent them from creating one-on-one situations with space to run into. At the same time, we want to play our game. We’ll have to try and nullify the threat of Yamal as much as possible. He can cause us problems, but we’re capable of doing the same.”

Italy overcame Spain on the way to winning the Euros three years ago. “We feel a positive kind of pressure,” concluded Buongiorno. “It’s a positive kind of responsibility that pushes us to do all that we can and go beyond our limits. It pushes us to give absolutely everything at every opportunity and during every moment of the game, and then we train in the right way and eat the right things. We do everything required to be in the best possible shape for matches and try to win them.”