Roberto Mancini was happy after the full-time whistle and was pleased with the performance of his young Azzurri against one of the favourites for the upcoming World Cup. A lot have things have changed since that magical night at Wembley 334 days ago but not the character of the Azzurri, who played well even if they could have been more clinical. “We had more clear chances than them,” Mancini said. “We played well and it wasn’t easy. We need to improve, especially in the final third. You can’t spurn certain chances. If Frattesi had scored in the fifth minute, it would have been a totally different game. He’ll score the next one. We need to continue down this road.” The Italy boss handed debuts to Gatti and Esposito tonight as the number of players to have won their first cap this June reaches nine: “Federico was a bit nervous but if he’s playing, it’s because I believe that he has the potential to become a great defender. He did well, as did Esposito. Gnonto gave us a spark. They all did well.” After announcing that Florenzi would be returning home after tonight’s game, the Italy boss also praised Lorenzo Pellegrini for another good performance: “Let’s not compare him to Giannini or Totti because he is a different play. He can contribute in both phases of the game; if he improves certain aspects of his game, he can become a top player.”

It’s not often that a player makes his international debut before even stepping onto the pitch in Serie A. It happened to Alessio Zerbin in Cesena four days ago and it happened to Federico Gatti, who is a teammate of Zerbin at Frosinone and is ready to make the switch to Juventus. He marked Abraham and then Kane, never once looking out of place: “When I enter the pitch, I don’t look anyone in the eye. That’s how I was in the Promotion playoffs and that’s how I am for Italy too. I was a great feeling. We had some big chances and didn’t score. I live for this type of game; we need to stay alert.”

Salvatore Esposito was also overjoyed at having made his Italy debut before playing in Serie A: “Playing for your country is amazing, it’s an incredible emotion. It’s the dream of every child and I’m happy that it’s come true. This is a great group and they’ve welcomed me. We have the right energy for a big rebuild.”

Federico Dimarco, meanwhile, made his first start in an Italy shirt following cameo appearances off the bench against Germany and Hungary: “I’m happy with my performance. It was a great game against a good team. We need to continue down this road and we still have a lot to show. We could have scored but the important thing is that we didn’t lose.”

Italy are growing and Sandro Tonali is growing alongside the team. He had one of the biggest chances of all this evening but was denied by Ramsdale: “It was a tough game. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy against such a strong team. We could’ve done more to score. We need to give our all out on the pitch and we defended well today. We can improve but we just need to get to know one another. We had a lot of new players today.”