Italy return to play at the Dall’Ara in Bologna on 4 June. This marks the third consecutive year this has happened, making it quite a curious case. It all began on the eve of Euro 2020, played in the summer of 2021. After a pre-training camp in Sardinia and a warm-up match against San Marino, the Azzurri concluded their preparation with an impressive 4-0 victory over the Czechia, another team that advanced to the final stage of the tournament. Giacomo Raspadori made his debut for the Azzurri in that match. Back then he was a 21-year-old born not far from the stadium, in Bentivoglio, a municipality in the Bologna plains. Fabio Licari from gazzetta.it described it as follows: "A nice problem to have. This Italy side are a joy to watch. This Italy flies. The risk now is to get too carried away. It would be better to stay grounded, but how can you not get excited after this 4-0 against Czechia? They may not be the strongest team in the Euros, but they are a finalist. Yet the Azzurri play as if they were two or three levels above, driven by a phenomenal Insigne. Always the same. Determined, confident, offensive, entertaining. A goal each from Immobile, Barella, Insigne and Berardi plus the impression of overwhelming superiority. 27 matches without defeat (three short of Pozzo's record), the eighth without conceding a goal. No one will be happy to face us". Just over a month later, the triumph at Wembley would follow.

 

365 days later, the national team return to the "scene of the crime". This time, they need to rekindle the passion that faded after the World Cup elimination (March 2022) and the thrashing at Wembley in the Finalissima against Argentina (3-0). Facing Germany in the first match of the 2022-23 Nations League, when the outlook seemed bleak, Coach Mancini pulled an unexpected protagonist out of the hat. Wilfried Gnonto, who, at 65 minutes, came on for Politano (the first 2003-born player in the national team) and five minutes later provided the assist for Pellegrini's goal to make it 1-0. Shortly after, Kimmich equalized, but Italy showed signs of resilience. From that 4 June, the climb to the top began, leading the Azzurri to finish ahead of Hungary, Germany, and England, and ultimately securing third place in the Nations League Finals. It was Mancini's 50th game as head coach of the national team, with six debutants: Davide Frattesi, Degnand Wilfred Gnonto, Tommaso Pobega, Federico Dimarco, Matteo Cancellieri, and Samuele Ricci.

Speaking of 4 June. Among the most famous events on this day are the first flight of the Montgolfier brothers (1783), the Battle of Magenta in the Second Italian War of Independence (1859), the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the victory of Solidarność in Poland's first free elections, which would trigger the end of communism (1989). 4 June is also the day of Marco Pantani's first professional victory at the Giro d'Italia in the Lienz-Merano stage (1994). The saint of the day is St. Francis Caracciolo, founder of the Clerics Regular Minor, and the patron saint of cooks.