Full marks. Following their win against Lithuania, Roberto Mancini’s side recorded their sixth successive win, equalling the 25-game undefeated streak achieved by Marcello Lippi’s team between 2004 and 2006 in the process. Mancini is also top of the Italy Head Coach ranking after 30 games thanks to a 70-point haul. When asked about matching Lippi, he had the following to say: “I’m pleased, but it’s an end in itself. I’d like to match him in other respects in December 2022.”

After his side sailed through European qualifying and reached the Final Four of the Nations League, the Head Coach has led the Azzurri to three wins in their first three matches on the road to Qatar. It wasn’t easy to get the better of Lithuania, but Italy stepped it up in the second half and ran out deserved winners: “It was our third match in seven days,” the Head Coach continued. “Despite changing our whole team, we knew that we’d have some difficulties. It was a really difficult pitch, it’s clear that they were more used to playing on it. We had many chances to score more but unfortunately weren’t able to do so. The most important thing was to win. However, if we’d made the most of all our opportunities, we would have had a slightly easier ride.”

Stefano Sensi made a decisive contribution after coming on: the Inter midfielder only needed two minutes to break the deadlock and score his third Azzurri goal: “I put in the work to enjoy moments like this. These three matches have helped me mentally, I’ve worked on the problems I’ve had in the past and will try to always be available from now on. I’m delighted.”

It was also a memorable evening for Rafael Toloi, who enjoyed a positive debut: “It was really emotional to make my National Team debut. I’ve been able to settle in very quickly because the group is fantastic. I’m happy to be part of this family. Winning was the only thing that counted and these are three important points.” The Atalanta defender is now aiming to be included in Italy’s European Championship squad, a goal he’s hoping to achieve through his performances at club level: “It’s a unique opportunity, I’ll do my best. I need to continue doing well with Atalanta: this is the only way I can return to the Azzurri setup.”