In the Round of 16 of the European Championship, defending champions Italy were eliminated by Switzerland 2-0. In fact, former Inter Milan and Roma manager Jose Mourinho said just under a week before the tournament started that Italy wouldn’t win the title.
Mourinho said at the time: “Italy winning the European Championship again? I don’t believe it. I don’t think they have the talent to win it. They won the last one, but I don’t believe they will win it again.”
Croatian legend Zvonimir Boban actually agreed with Mourinho, saying after watching Italy’s first two games: “Italy have very few, or no, top players at the world level. Donnarumma is their best player from an international point of view, and he showed this against Spain.”
Spanish newspaper AS analyzed the reasons for Italy’s elimination: They were lacking in many areas, but most importantly, they lacked the creativity in midfield to deliver the final pass. Against Croatia, Luciano Spalletti even started with Giacomo Raspadori, the 1.72m Napoli forward who thrives between midfield and attack. Though not a technically rough player, Raspadori is far from Italian legendary playmakers like Christian Vieri, Antonio Cassano, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, and Francesco Totti.
Salernitana director Walter Sabatini, in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, summed up the loss of this creativity in Italy: “Talent has decreased in Italy because football schools have canceled street football, which is where you learn to trap and dribble. Coaches act like trainers, imposing tactics on 9-year-old children.”
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/5537.html
