Vastly improved...Hansi Flick took charge of Germany in August 2021WORLD SERVICERoberto Mancini managed to
retain his job as head coach but will
be on trial in every single match in a
difficult schedule. Italy’s ten-dayJune
tightrope includes home and away
clashes against Hansi Flick’s vastly
improved old rivals Germany, a home
match against Hungary and another
meeting with England.
This will be staged at Molineux in
Wolverhampton and will carry direct
echoes of Wembley since it will be
played behind closed doors because
of the security failings that marred the
Euro final. On a happier note, England’s
four-match sequence could see 49-goal
Harry Kane close in on Wayne Rooney’s
53-goal national team marksmanship
record.
Mancini, in starting to re-set the
Italian stage, has appealed for media
and fans to refrain from exaggerating
the significance of the World Cup exit
- as if that were possible, amid the
fevered ambience surrounding the
Azzurri, win, lose or draw.
Forgotten already is that world
record 37-game unbeaten run which
came to an end last October with
a 2-1 loss against Spain in the last
Nations League semi-finals. Mancini
said: “There are important national
teams who have not won anything for
60 years. Italy are a little further ahead
in this, despite some disappointments,
and I believe the work in these three
years has been appreciated.
“Certainly we have to start over.
We will include younger players in the
national team, in the hope that they will
have more opportunities in their clubs
as well.”
France won the 2020-21 Nations
League after beating Spain 2-1 last
October, and Group A1 will see them
confront their World Cup group rivals in
Denmark. Group 2’s outcome may be
dictated by the opening clash matching
Spain against neighbours Portugal in
Seville. Group 4 will be opened by
Wales visiting Poland in Wroclaw but
with their minds on the World Cup
play-off back in Cardiff four days
later against Ukraine or Scotland.
Rob Page, in caretaker charge ever
since legal priorities sidelined Ryan
Giggs, would doubtless have preferred
a postponement of the Polish distraction
but, of course, the crowded calendar
is king. Belgium and Netherlands
complete the group.
Further down the Nations League
an unhappy coincidence has seen World
Cup play-off rivals
Ukraine and
Scotland drawn
together in League
B1. One report
even suggested
that the play-off
between the two
sides could double
up as a Nations
League fixture, but their two group
clashes will now take place in September.
Meanwhile, Russia are the one
aforementioned nation who will not take
part in the 2022-23 campaign. They
were drawn in League B2 with Albania,
Israel and Iceland but, following further
UEFA sanctions, have been barred from
the competition and will automatically
be ranked fourth and thus relegated to
League C at the end of the group stage.Under pressure...
Italy head coach
Roberto ManciniLEAGUE A
GROUP1
Austria
Croatia
Denmark
France
GROUP 2
Czech Republic
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
GROUP 3
England
Germany
Hungary
Italy
GROUP 4
Belgium
Netherlands
Poland
Wales
LEAGUE B
GROUP1
Armenia
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
Ukraine
GROUP 2
Albania
Iceland
Israel
Russia (R)
GROUP 3
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Finland
Montenegro
RomaniaGROUP 4
Norway
Serbia
Slovenia
Sweden
LEAGUE C
GROUP1
Faroe Islands
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Turkey
GROUP 2
Cyprus
Greece
Kosovo
Northern Ireland
GROUP 3
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Slovakia
GROUP 4
Bulgaria
Georgia
Gibraltar
North Macedonia
LEAGUE D
GROUP1
Andorra
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Moldova
GROUP 2
Estonia
Malta
San MarinoTHE DRAW
“There are important national
teams who have not won anything
for 60 years. Italy are a little
further ahead in this, despite
some disappointments”
Roberto Mancini, Italy head coach