Roberto Mancini said that his Italy team deserved to be in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 despite struggling to beat battling Austria 2-1 at Wembley in a match that went to extra-time.
Italy had strolled through the group stages at the Euro and were expected to easily beat the Austrians but had to wait until five minutes into the added half an hour to take the lead through Federico Chiesa.
Matteo Pessina made sure that the Azzurri would make last eight but Austria pulled one back through Sasa Kalajdzic to keep the tie in the balance until the final whistle.
“We got the result because we deserved it. In the first half we could have scored a couple of goals and then after the break we dropped off physically,” Mancini told Italy’s public broadcaster RAI.
“We won thanks to the players who came on with the right mindset and resolved the situation.
“I knew it would be hard, maybe even more so than in the quarter-finals.”
The win means that Mancini has guided Italy to 31 matches unbeaten, breaking a record that had been established by Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s.
Italy will play either Belgium or Portugal in Munich on July 2, with the reigning European champions and the world’s top-ranked team facing off on Sunday in Seville.
World Cup News
-
FIFA World Cup
/ 4 days agoUruguay end winless run with dramatic late win over Colombia
Manuel Ugarte grabbed a dramatic last-gasp winner as Uruguay ended a five-match winless streak...
By AFP -
FIFA World Cup
/ 5 days agoArgentina fall in Paraguay, Brazil held in Venezuela
World champions Argentina suffered a 2-1 defeat to Paraguay while rivals Brazil were held...
By AFP -
FIFA World Cup
/ 1 month agoLenovo become FIFA’s World Cup ‘technology partner’
Chinese technology company Lenovo have signed a sponsorship deal with FIFA that covers the...
By AFP -
FIFA World Cup
/ 3 months agoVinicius says Spain should lose 2030 World Cup unless racism declines
Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior has called for Spain to be stripped of its 2030...
By AFP