Thirty-one years after the emotions of Italia '90, at the Olympic Stadium in Rome Ciro Immobile dresses up as Totò Schillaci, Lorenzo Insigne as Roberto Baggio and the national team relives a “magic night”, treating itself to the first three points of a European Championship it wants to experience as a leading player. The Azzurri confirm they have all the credentials to go far, and the 3-0 with which they see off Turkey is a misleading result: the goal margin could have been much larger. No matter. The numbers do the talking: ninth win in a row, ninth match without conceding and 28th consecutive unbeaten match (23 wins and 5 draws), just two lengths away from the record set by Vittorio Pozzo. And it would be wrong to belittle the worth of Turkey, in recent months the executioner of reigning world champions France and of the Netherlands. There simply was no contest. And if in the first half Italy lacked only the goal, in the second half Immobile and his teammates showed that when this national team manages to add a bit of ruthlessness to the sheer volume of play it produces, there really is nothing for anyone.
The Euros are off to a flying start, but the road to Wembley is still long. Dreaming, however, is more than allowed.
The programme
Saturday 12 June
*5.30 pm – Training (closed)
Sunday 13 June
**2.00 pm – Media meeting (players)
*6.00 pm – Training (closed)
Monday 14 June
**2.00 pm – Media meeting (players)
*6.00 pm – Training (closed)
Tuesday 15 June
11.00 am – Transfer Florence-Rome
**4.45 pm – Press conference: head coach + 1 player at the Hotel Parco dei Principi
*7.15 pm – Training at the “Giulio Onesti” sports centre (open to the media for the first 15')
Wednesday 16 June
9.00 pm – Italy-Switzerland at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. At the end of the match, media meeting and transfer to the CTF in Coverciano
Thursday 17 June
*6.00 pm – Training (closed)
Friday 18 June
**2.00 pm – Media meeting (players)
*6.00 pm – Training (closed)
Saturday 19 June
11.00 am – Transfer Florence-Rome
**5.15 pm – Press conference: head coach + 1 player at the Hotel Parco dei Principi
*6.30 pm – Training at the “Giulio Onesti” sports centre
Sunday 20 June
6.00 pm – Italy-Wales at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. At the end of the match, media meeting and transfer to the CTF in Coverciano
(Source: FIGC)
