Giorgio Chiellini was the antidive to an autumnal but illustrious Italy, the Italy of Pirlo and Buffon, pillars of the 2006 world title, the last of the four-time champion. The same Chiellini, who always seemed old but always runs like a young man, is, today, at 36 years old, the captain of an Italy without stars and in the middle of spring. It smells fresh, like sunrises on the grass. Take you wherever this Eurocup takes you, you are on the path of honoring your ancestors, of being worthy of competing alongside the Olympus of the gods, in the Roman Italic Forum. This is how Manuel Locatelli, a Saussolo footballer, did it, as if he were a new 'Bambino d'oro', which was how a legend, Gianni Rivera, was known.

At the moment, Italy is already the first classified for the ocatvos, after taking Switzerland out of the field, a well-drawn rival, never easy.

To be first of his group, it would be enough for him to tie with this Welsh of the phoenix Bale.

Wherever you want, know how to be a leader.

Real things ...

The azzurra did it with ambition, always with his eyes on Sommer's goal, at a very high pace of play, only bearable with a great physical tone, and with two superb goals from Locatelli, at the level of Cristiano's Euro table , Lukaku and his partner Immobile, who closed the account against the Swiss.

Chiellini, the captain, opened the scoring, but the VAR said no. It was the first time he had done it in the tournament, in contrast to the quilombo that has formed in the Spanish League. This was invented for the fat, not the minutia, and is used in the Euro. Let's take note. Chiellini entered like an express in the area to by the center. The ball hit his hand, involuntarily, but the contact left him dead, at his mercy for the shot. When that happens, the instructions say to be annulled, and so did the Russian referee Karasev. Not a protest. Italy is something else.

Bad fortune caused Chiellini to be injured and had to leave the Olympic pitch seven minutes later.

Acerbi came in his place, but the role of boss and the bracelet passed to what has been his common-law partner on the field, Bonucci.

The jovial Italy that attacks is not the one that defends.

Little joke, Mancini would say.

The loss did not alter the pulse of the azzurra, which works like a dynamo;

it goes on and on ... Switzerland had not been able to get on the pitch.

Petkovic's face in the band was that of someone who sees the storm coming without an umbrella.

Neither Embolo received any ball into space, nor Shaqiri could activate between the lines.

The pressure from Italy was intense, proportional to their speed when attacking spaces.

Two footballers do it as possessed.

These are Spinazzola, a find on the left, and Berardi.

The latter combined with his Sassuolo teammate, Locatelli, to build the play for the first goal. It was from a book. Locatelli opened for Berardi from midfield and started running to follow the play. He took it back from his partner in the Swiss area to score. That two footballers in the eighth place in Serie A were the best of Italy says a lot about the meritocracy in the reconstruction carried out by Mancini. Locatelli, grown up in the Milan quarry, will not be the same after last night.

Switzerland did not really know what to think about when they reached the break, whether to squeeze or hide and save their strength for a final against Turkey, in the last turn. Petkovic did both. He put Zuber on the field, but also gave relief to the warned players. The Swiss forward put energy where it did not exist and ended up discovering what had not been necessary until now, and that is that Italy also has a great future in goal. Donnarumma saved the only committed action. The giant is from the fifth of Locatelli: 23 years old.

Mancini thought beyond Petkovic, while Immobile closed the second 3-0.

He thought of Wales and thought of the round of 16, for which he hopes to win back the most expensive thing he has in the bank: Verratti.

Nobody misses the PSG player, the team of divos, because this Italy that was born from a hecatomb, absent in Russia, is something else.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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