Lazio and Italy forward Ciro Immobile knows better than anyone that he has to improve his goalscoring record with Gli Azzurri.
Immobile and his Azzurri teammates get the European Championship underway on Friday evening against Turkey at the Stadio Olimpico, which has been home for the Neapolitan since he joined Lazio in 2016.
“I’ve scored so many goals at club level I’ve used up my powder with Gli Azzurri,” Immobile said, laughing, to World Soccer in response to his record of a goal every four games being put to him. “It’s true, I do have to work on my scoring rate.”
The Lazio striker is optimistic about Italy’s chances this summer, though, particularly with games being played in the capital city.
“We have a very strong team with a lot of youngsters who are ready,” Immobile said. “This team has great prospects and we are very optimistic. Having our group matches in Rome will give us additional motivation.”
Italy are on the up again under Roberto Mancini, and Immobile is keen to move on from his career-low of missing out on the 2018 World Cup with Giampiero Ventura in charge.
“One of the darkest moments of my career,” Immobile said of that failure. “As is often the case in life, we learned our lessons from it so that such a disappointment would not happen again.
“Under Mancini we have been doing a fantastic job. The supporters are really excited about the Azzurri again.”
