Italy’s national soccer coach Roberto Mancini sees his European champions as favorites for the Winter World Cup in Qatar.
“We were the best team at the European Championship and we deserved to win. We lost only once in three years,” said Mancini of the “Gazzetta dello Sport”: “I think we will be world champions.”
In the coming weeks Mancini (57) is hoping for the comeback of defender Leonardo Spinazzola (AS Roma) who was injured at the European Championships. “He’s an essential player for us. We hope he can return to the field in February. Then he’ll have a few months to train,” he said.
However, in order to be able to participate in the World Cup finals at all, Italy must first pass the playoffs. There the European champions will meet North Macedonia in the semifinals (March 24th). In the final, the Mancini-Elf could meet Portugal. So Italy is still a long way from winning the World Cup.
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