World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

WhiledefeattoNorthMacedonia

(orPortugalorTurkey)intheplay-offs

wouldadda stunningchaptertothe

remarkablestoryof Mancini’s Italy, it

wouldalsobea greatpityifanItalyteam

ofthisquality, styleandbravuradidnot

makeit toQatarnextNovember.

PaddyAgnew

InternazionaleandManchester City to
leaguetitlesuccesses.
Manciniaffecteda Copernican
revolution,essentiallyreplacingthe
traditionalItaliandefensivementality
withasurprisinglyattackingmindset.
Himselfa gifted,qualityplayer, Mancini
puthis trustina penchantforgood
footballandgoodfootballers,those
with“piedibuoni” (literally“goodfeet”).
KeytoMancini’s takeover was
thecreationofa verytight-knit
managementunit,comprisingold
friendsandcompanionsinarms:
GianlucaVialli(delegationhead),
GabrieleOriali(teammanager),Fausto
SalsanoandAttilioLombardo(assistant
coaches). Nocoincidencethatthreeof
thesefourplayedwithhiminthe 1 991
SerieAtitle-winningSampdoriaside,
whilstOrialiworkedalongsidehim
duringfourhighly-successfulseasons
ascoachtoInter(2004-08).
BythetimeItaly arrivedatthe
delayedEuro 2020 finalsonthe
backofa 27-matchunbeatenrun,
therevolutionwas steamingalong.
ThequalityofItaly’sfootballmarked
themdownasseriouscontenders,
notwithstandingthesquad’s
tournament inexperienceandthe
lightweightnatureof a teamthat
revolvedaroundlittle“good’uns”
suchasMarcoVerratti,Jorghino,
NicoloBarella andLorenzoInsigne.

A 3 -0demolitionjobonTurkeyin
theiropeninggameinRomeconfirmed
thattheseAzzurrimightbejustas
goodasmanyof us hadbelieved.From
thenon,ItalyandMancinigotverylittle
wrong.Asecond-halfwobbleagainst
Austriainthesecondround,a penalty
shootoutwinagainstSpaininthe
semi-finalsandLukeShaw’ssecond-
minutegoalinthefinalcameclose
tosinking thembuttheoverall
enthusiasm,resilienceandclass
ofthisteamsurviveditall.
Notfornothing,Manciniobserved
after theAustriagame,theirfirst
sudden-deathtieofthetournament,
thathissidecouldnow“justsailon
withouta bother”.Hisreasoningwas
that, havingabsorbedthatfrightand
havingproventheirphysicalresilience,

theAzzurriwerenowgoodtogoall

theway.

Intheend,Italyv Englandwasthe

dreamfinal,a clashnotonlybetween

twogreatfootballingnationsbutalso

onebetweenarguablythetwomost

in-formteamsofthetournament.In

theopinionofmany, too,Italywerefull

valuefortheirEuro 2020 finalwin,

giventheconsistentlyhighqualityof

theirfootball (their2- 1 quarter-final

winoverBelgiumisa caseinpoint).

Inevitably, Italy’swinwasgreetednot

justwithnationwiderejoicingbutalso

nationwidereliefinthewakeof that

bitter humiliationbackin 20 17.

Ina perfectserendipity, that

reliefwas twinnedwithanother, more

important nationalresurrectionforItaly,

namelytheseemingemergencefrom

theCOVID-19pandemic,whichhas

claimed 1 33 ,000livesinItaly.

Tosomeextent, thisItalianteam’s

successpluggeditselfintoa much

needed“feelgood”moment, one

thatrepresenteda partialexorcism

oftheCOVID- 19 trauma.Player

after playerduring thetournament

dedicatedtheirsuccess“toallthose

whohavesufferedandlost loved

onesbecauseofCOVID”.

MancinihastakenItalydown

a newroadandItalianshaveseen

somethingtheyhavenever seen

beforefromtheirnationalteam,

namelya sidethatplayedintense

attacking,one-touchfootball–

a sort oftiki-taka, Italianstyle.

EvenifhisItaly subsequently

managedtothrowaway a WorldCup

qualifyinggroupwinthathadseemed

inthebag(ifyoumissa penalty inboth

matchesagainst yourclosest rivals,

Switzerland,youareclearlytinkering

withdisaster),all is notlost.Mancinistill

believes that hissidehasthequality

andclasstowinits waythroughthe

newtwo-matchplay-offprocess.

A 3-0demolition

jobonTurkeyintheir

openinggameconfirmed

thattheseAzzurrimight

bejustasgoodasmany

ofushadbelieved.

Fromthenon,Italy

andMancinigot

verylittlewrong

Dejected...Manuel

Locatelliafterthe

0-0drawinBelfast

1982 EnzoBearzot,Italy

1983 SeppPiontek,Denmark

1984 MichelHidalgo,France

1985 TerryVenables,Barcelona

1986 GuyThys,Belgium

1987 Johan Cruyff,Ajax

1988 RinusMichels,

Netherlands/Leverkusen

1989 Arrigo Sacchi,Milan

1990 FranzBeckenbauer,

WestGermany/Marseille

1991 MichelPlatini,France

1992 Richard Moller-Nielsen,

Denmark

1993 AlexFerguson,

ManchesterUnited

1994 CarlosAlbertoParreira,

Brazil

1995 LouisvanGaal,Ajax

1996 Berti Vogts,Germany

1997 OttmarHitzfeld,

BorussiaDortmund

1998 Arsene Wenger,Arsenal

1999 AlexFerguson,

ManchesterUnited

2000 DinoZoff,Italy

2001 GerardHoullier,Liverpool

2002 GuusHiddink,

SouthKorea/PSV

2003 CarloAncelotti,Milan

2004 JoseMourinho,

Porto/Chelsea

2005 JoseMourinho,Chelsea

2006 MarcelloLippi,Italy

2007 AlexFerguson,

ManchesterUnited

2008 AlexFerguson,

ManchesterUnited

2009 PepGuardiola,Barcelona

2010 JoseMourinho,

Internazionale/RealMadrid

2011 PepGuardiola,Barcelona

2012 Vicentedel Bosque,Spain

2013 JuppHeynckes,

Bayern Munich

2014 Joachim Low,Germany

2015 LuisEnrique,Barcelona

2016 ClaudioRanieri,

LeicesterCity

2017 ZinedineZidane,

Real Madrid

2018 DidierDeschamps,

France

2019 JurgenKlopp,Liverpool

2020 Hansi Flick,Bayern Munich

PREVIOUSWINNERS

WORLDMANAGEROFTHEYEAR

1982 Brazil

1983 Hamburg

1984 France

1985 Everton

1986 Argentina

1987 Porto

1988 Netherlands

1989 Milan

1990 WestGermany

1991 France

1992 Denmark

1993 Parma

1994 Milan

1995 Ajax

1996 Nigeria

1997 Borussia

Dortmund

1998 France

1999 ManchesterUtd

2000 France

2001 Liverpool

2002 Brazil

2003 Milan

2004 Greece

2005 Liverpool

2006 Barcelona

2007 Iraq

2008 Spain

2009 Barcelona

2010 Spain

2011 Barcelona

2012 Spain

2013 Bayern Munich

2014 Germany

2015 Barcelona

2016 Leicester City

2017 RealMadrid

2018 France

2019 Liverpool

2020 Bayern Munich

WORLDTEAMOFTHEYEAR