By Anna Italia
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Italian Soccer Serie A
Italy Head Coach Roberto Mancini not satisfied with the draw against Bulgaria. Mancini giving his declarations after the game saying, “We lacked precision in the final third. They defended well and we gave it our all to try and win. We have a big game coming up on Sunday against Switzerland. We’ll try to go out and win it.”
Mancini emphasizing, “You do get games where you could play 90 minutes extra and still not score. They defended well, though we gave it our all. They countered once and they scored – that’s football. It would’ve been better to win, but Sunday’s game is an important one and we’ll go there with the intent to win.”
On a positive note, Roberto Mancini has become the Italy manager with the most home games without any defeat reaching 18 (11 wins and 7 draws) in Italy’s history, overtaking Head Coach Marcello Lippi with 17).
Photo via twitter.com/Azzurri_En
Italy after Matchday 4 remain in the top position with 10 points, but Switzerland have two games in hand. Italy will play against Switzerland on Sunday in Basel.
👉 FIFA World Cup Qualifier Group C, Italy leading with 10 points
| Group C Standing | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Goal difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Northern Ireland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 2 |
| 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
Federico Chiesa was one of the standout performers at the Euro and confirmed tonight that that certainly wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Under the watchful gaze of his father Enrico in the stands and in the city where he first made his name as a footballer, Federico scored his fourth Italy goal, even though it didn’t materialise into an Azzurri win. “We didn’t get the three points today, which would’ve meant going into Sunday’s game with a bit less pressure,” he said. “We’ll a repeat performance from the Euros against Switzerland. We weren’t clinical enough in the final third but we played some good football – the goals will come.”
Italy couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Florence one year ago too: “There’s a bit of regret; we’re a mature team and we need to think about winning each and every game. We began last year with a draw at home last year too, and we had a lot of self-belief back then too and the results followed. We’ll need to do the same now, with enthusiasm and the energy transmitted to us by the coach every day.”
In his press conference yesterday, Leonardo Bonucci underlined the hidden difficulties of the first outing of the season. “We’d said that it would be a difficult game because they were tight at the back. We had our chances to win but we rushed things and weren’t clinical enough. It’s a shame; we wanted to celebrate a winning start with our fans but we played our game and I saw the same spirit on show as in the Euros. We’ll take this point and go to Switzerland to win, and then we’ll see.”
🏆👉Result Italy 1 – 1 Bulgaria
⚽️Goals: 16′ Federico Chiesa (I), 39′ Atanas Iliev (B)
✍️ Ball Possession: 🇮🇹 79% @Azzurri_En and 21% Bulgaria
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— Anna Italia (@ItalianSerieA) September 2, 2021
