In the stadium where an Italian team – in this case, Roma – won a European trophy for the first time in twelve years six months ago, the National Team will face Albania (20:45 CET) tomorrow evening. The team are looking to record their third consecutive victory after beating England and Hungary to progress to the Final Four of the Nations League. In Tirana, Italy will play the 400th friendly in their history against a side that sit 66th in the FIFA Ranking and who they beat twice in 2018 World Cup qualifying. However, as the recent past has shown, being the favourites isn’t a guarantee of victory: “We’ve come here to produce a good performance,” said Roberto Mancini to the press today. The Head Coach, who tomorrow will draw level with Lippi and Prandelli in terms of number of games in charge (56, only Pozzo with 95 and Bearzot with 88 are ahead in this regard), continued: “We know that Albania aren’t a poor side. They have many players who play in Serie A, and they’re all good.”

Five days before the start of a World Cup that Italy won’t be involved in, there’s plenty of regret about the play-off defeat to North Macedonia and the two missed penalties against Switzerland: “It’ll be a difficult month for us,” said the Head Coach. “Despite the disappointment, we need to play these games; there are things to look at and assess. These are aspects that will come in handy from March onwards. We can see how some new faces get on and work on playing patterns. We deserved to go to the World Cup, but unfortunately we didn’t make the most of our opportunities. However, this is football; after experiencing real joy, we suffered a real disappointment and can’t do anything about it now. A World Cup without Italy is different, and we need to work in the right way to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. In the same way we previously managed to rebuild a team and a real group spirit, which was our strength at the Euros, we can do it again. I think that the boys know that an enormous sense of belonging is required.”

While Edy Reja has confirmed that Albania will line-up in their usual 3-5-2 formation, Mancini was more tight-lipped about the formation he’ll adopt tomorrow: “As far as playing systems are concerned, I don’t know which is the best one. We changed a few things in our last two matches to see if we could gain any advantages. Our players are used to understanding more than one formation. I don’t think you can say a three-man defence is better than a four-man backline and vice versa; it also depends on the players. We have these two friendlies and will try out a few things. This is something we would have gladly avoided, but trying things out is sometimes useful.”

Mancini is once again giving youngsters a chance, with Empoli defender Parisi and Juventus players Fagioli and Miretti having received their first call-ups. The real surprise inclusion, however, is Udinese’s Simone Pafundi. The 16-year-old was born just a few months before Italy became World Champions for the fourth time: “We’ve been following his progress for several years now,” explained Mancini. “While he was coming through the youth ranks, we could see that he possessed important qualities. We think he could be a fantastic player in the future, and we’ve called him up to assess him. When Zaniolo came to us, nobody knew him, but he was a different player when he returned three months later.”

Zaniolo could play a key role at the stadium where, six months ago, he scored the goal that secured Roma’s Conference League triumph. “Nicolò is an important asset. He can give us a lot and will improve in all respects. He’s a young lad and when you’re young, you’re always improving. Given his qualities, playing as a ‘mezzala’ could suit him, even if he’s often deployed as an attacking winger.

Federico Chiesa has recovered from the injury that kept him away from the National Team for a year, but Mancini confirmed that he won’t be in the starting line-up. “We’re happy that Federico is back. He’s not yet fully fit but is doing well, even if he won’t start tomorrow.”

Sitting next to the Head Coach during today’s press conference was Leonardo Bonucci. Should he play tomorrow, the Juventus defender would move to within seven appearances of Paolo Maldini, who currently occupies third place in the all-time Italy appearance ranking (126): “A very challenging match awaits, and I’m here with the same enthusiasm as always. Being here for my youngest teammates, the Coach and everyone else is something I’m really happy about. Despite the fact that we’re only playing two friendlies, being involved is crucial for me. For as long as the Coach feels it’s right to call me up, I’ll respond.”

The Azzurri captain didn’t hide his disappointment at the fact that he’ll only be watching the World Cup and not playing in it: “We suffered a real disappointment, but the only thing we can do now is learn from the mistakes we made, forget the past and look ahead. The aim is to build a fantastic present and future with EURO 2024 and, for many of my teammates, the 2026 World Cup in mind. We can build a great future, and we need to stick together and work in such a way that come March, when Euro qualifying will begin, we’re ready to achieve our objectives.”

After mentioning that he’s predicting a Brazil vs. Argentina final (“I wished my teammates luck and told them I wanted to see them as late as possible”), the Juventus defender highlighted the great sense of belonging within the National Team: “There have been a few too many injuries that perhaps made some people think that a few players weren’t interested in the National Team, but, in the twelve years I’ve been here, I find it hard to remember a teammate who didn’t want to wear the Azzurri colours.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Empoli);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Pasquale Mazzocchi (Salernitana), Fabiano Parisi (Empoli), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Fabio Miretti (Juventus), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Vincenzo Grifo (SC Freiburg), Simone Pafundi (Udinese), Andrea Pinamonti (Sassuolo), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma).