“The first half was great but we’ll take a look back at the second because we could’ve done better”, this was Roberto Mancini’s first comment after full time. Italy got off to a good start in qualification for Qatar 2022 ahead of two away trips – against Bulgaria and Lithuania. “The first half was perfected,” he continued, “because we scored twice and could’ve scored more. We played with a quick tempo. In the second half, we had more of the ball but moved it around slower but, after five months away, that can happen.”

Ahead of the game, Mancini had singled Northern Ireland out as the toughest opponent in the group: “We knew that they could cause us problems,” he stated, “and, in fact, we took too many risks in the second half. Immobile? It’s important for a striker to score. He had a great game; we’re happy for him and that our strikers can all do as well as him.” Before the game, Italy remembered five Azzurri greats (Pietro Anastasi, Mario Corso, Pierino Prati, Mauro Bellugi and Paolo Rossi) as well as young Lazio Primavera midfielder Daniel Guerini, who passed away yesterday: “A huge tragedy. These things cannot happen. This evening, we remembered these legends of Italian football and this promising young talent.”

Giorgio Chiellini also had his say on a dazzling first half: “In the first 45 minutes, we played really well. We then made a few too many mistakes after the break. Perhaps a bit of fatigue but we deserved to win in the end. We could’ve scored more but we can be happy with this start. We were all really alert and now we have two games that are easy on paper. But we know full well how deceptive these games can be.” In spite of the odd mistake in the second half, there’s plenty of optimism in the Italy camp. “We committed a lot of technical errors in the second half,” explained Bonucci, who won his 100th Italy cap. “We had space to hurt Northern Ireland but what has been impressive since Mancini’s arrival has been the attitude and desire to play good football. This spirit can take us far. Praise has to go to the head coach, the staff and the players for their willingness to take on new ideas. We dedicate this win to those that are suffering. It’s not nice to play in an empty stadium, the fans are what we miss the most.”

Player List

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Gian Marco Ferrari (Sassuolo), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint Germain), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Matteo Ricci (Spezia), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Roberto Soriano (Bologna), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain);
Attackers: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Francesco Caputo (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Vincenzo Grifo (Friburgo), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).

 

Schedule

(All times are CET unless otherwise indicated) 

Friday 26 March

11:00 – Training** (closed to the press) (Tardini/Parma)

12:30 – Player press conference (Tardini/Parma)

Saturday 27 March

10:30 – Departure from Parma to Sofia 

11:00 – Bulgaria press conference (Boyana National Football Center)

11:30 - Bulgaria training session (first 15 minutes open to the press) (Boyana National Football Center)                                                                                                                    

18:00 – ITALY press conference (Vasil Levksi stadium/Sofia)

18:30 – ITALY training (first 15 minutes open to the press) (Vasil Levski stadium/Sofia)

Sunday 28 March

20:45 – Bulgaria vs ITALY (Vasil Levski stadium/Sofia). Followed by a press conference

Monday 29 March

11:30 CEST – Training (closed to the press)

Tuesday 30 March

10:45 CEST – Departure from Sofia to Vilnius

16:30 CEST – Lithuania press conference *** (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

17:00 CEST – Lithuania training (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)  

17:30 CEST – ITALY press conference (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

18:00 CEST – ITALY training session (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

Wednesday 31 March

20:45 CEST – Lithuania vs ITALY (LFF Stadium/Vilnius). Followed by a press conference and return to respective HQs.

** access to the press isn’t expected, FIGC will produce and distribute images after the first 15 minutes.

*** access to the press conference lobby will be limited to a reduced number of press people. The images will be visible on screens around the stadium