Italy coach Roberto Mancini isn’t worried that his side were dominated by Spain in their Euro 2020 semi-final.
Gli Azzurri came out on top on penalties after an impressive showing from Spain, but Mancini doesn’t think that his side being put on the back foot by their semi-final opponents is a bad sign ahead of Sunday’s final against England.
“Reaching a final isn’t easy,” Mancini said at his press conference on Saturday. “You have to play with concentration, with joy, because it’s football.
“You cannot go into the game with tension, you have to go into it wanting to have dun. If you want to go all the way you have to adapt to different situations.
“You can’t expect to win a European Championship or a World Cup by dominating.”
Mancini has led Italy on a 33-game unbeaten run to make it to Wembley for the final, and he is happy with what his side have achieved so far.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” Mancini said. “It hasn’t been easy.
“Getting here is an achievement, and now if only we can win on Sunday… In the end, winning the final is all that matters.”
England have never won a European Championship, whereas Italy already have one to their name. The Italy boss knows what has to be done on Sunday to claim a second.
“We have to press, to fight until the end,” Mancini said. “Because England are a strong team and they’ll fight.
“They’ll have almost the entire stadium behind them, and it’s clear that the fans inside will cheer for them, but that’s all right.”
