The real test to see where the Azzurri are at will take place on 4 June, when Mancini’s men will face the Czech Republic in Bologna. However, Italy produced a very solid performance to beat San Marino 7-0 this evening, recording their seventh consecutive victory in the process. The National Team have now gone 26 games unbeaten (21 wins and five draws) and, with the first phase of their training camp over, will start stepping up the pace from 1 June as they look to ensure that they’ll be ready for their opening European Championship match against Turkey on Friday 11 June.

Initially, the Azzurri struggled to find space in the opening half an hour, but then they broke the deadlock through an inspired Bernardeschi, with Ferrari adding a second shortly afterwards. Then, after the restart, braces from Politano and Pessina and Belotti’s twelfth National Team goal resulted in a resounding victory for the hosts at the Sardegna Arena. Roberto Mancini now has some hard choices to make as he looks to whittle the squad down to 26 ahead of the European Championship.

THE MATCH. Two weeks before the upcoming Euros, Mancini, who was without Jorginho and Emerson due to their involvement in the Champions League final tomorrow, decided not to take any risks with Verratti, Sensi, Spinazzola and Pellegrini. Furthermore, Giacomo Raspadori joined up with the Under-21s, who have a European Championship quarter-final showdown coming up against Portugal on Monday, earlier on today, as a result of which his senior debut was postponed. Cagliari goalkeeper Cragno was selected between the sticks, with Ferrari and Mancini forming the centre-back pairing in front of him. Toloi and Biraghi occupied the full-back roles. There was also a new-look midfield (Cristante, Castrovilli and Pessina) and attack: Kean, Grifo and Bernardeschi were the forward trio. It was a precious opportunity for the players to really put their names in the frame for a place in the EURO 2020 squad.

Now at the bottom of the FIFA Ranking (210), San Marino were never going to provide Italy, who are aiming to enjoy a really good European Championship, with a really tough test. The ball was only heading towards one goal, but there was very little space and San Marino defended in an organised fashion. It was thus no coincidence, then, that a defender – in this case Mancini – was the first to come closest to scoring, but neither of his two headed efforts from corners found the net. Kean and Bernardeschi were switching positions in attack, and it was the Juventus man who broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark: Cristante played the ball forward, Castrovilli picked out the Azzurri’s No.20, and the latter fired home with his left foot. Italy’s second arrived four minutes later through Gian Marco Ferrari, who produced a tidy volleyed finish after Benedettini had failed to divert the ball away from danger. In doing so, the Sassuolo defender netted for the second time against San Marino after previously doing so for Gian Piero Ventura’s ‘experimental’ Italy side in an 8-0 win in May 2017.

Politano came on for Kean at half-time and needed just four minutes to make his mark, scoring after Grandoni had slipped at the back. Meret, Di Lorenzo and Belotti also all entered the fray, with the latter making it 4-0 after excellent combination play with Bernardeschi. It was his twelfth goal for the National Team, meaning he’s now drawn level with fellow striker Ciro Immobile on the scoring front for the Azzurri. In the final stages, Matteo Pessina took centre stage, bagging his first two goals for his country, while Politano also netted his second of the match. Both are hoping to be in Italy’s European Championship squad, but now it’s up to Roberto Mancini.