Italy 2006 World Cup Winner Full Of Praise For Inter Milan & Italy Star: ‘He’s Been A Leader Since He Was Eighteen’ | OneFootball

Legendary former Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi feels that current Nerazzurri player Alessandro Bastoni has always shown leadership.

The 2006 World Cup winner with Italy spoke to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, via FCInterNews.

Bastoni has now been at Inter for five seasons.

The former Parma and Atalanta joined the Nerazzurri in the summer of 2019. And when he arrived, he was still a teenager.

However, Bastoni became a part of the Inter starting eleven right away.

Under Antonio Conte, the Italian international became a key part of the starting eleven that reached the Europa League final and then won the Serie A title.

And under Simone Inzaghi, Bastoni’s importance to Inter has only increased.

Meanwhile, Bastoni has also cemented an important place for himself in the Italian national team.

The Inter defender won the last Euros with Italy. However, he was not a regular starter in that tournament.

This time around, on the other hand, Bastoni is just about the first name on the teamsheet for Azzurri coach Luciano Spalletti.

The 25-year-old is the player at the heart of a defensive rebuild for the defending European champions.

Materazzi: “Alessandro Bastoni Has Been A Leader Since He Was Eighteen:

Materazzi gave his thoughts on the defensive pairing of Alessandro Bastoni and Riccardo Calafiori, two left-footers, for Italy.

The former defender called the idea that having two left-footed centre-backs is a problem “An absurd cliche.”

“Under Leonardo, we lost out on the Scudetto against Lecce. Because he didn’t spare Lucio, who had been on a booking, rather than allowing Chivu and I to play together.”

“I told him afterwards, it’s always better to play two left-footers in defense, if they know how to pass the ball.”

“And Bastoni and Calafiori have the feet of midfielders,” Materazzi said.

The former Italy international said that “If you play [passing] football, they’re the right pairing.”

“And then, Bastoni hasn’t become a leader now,” the former defender argued. “He’s been one since he was eighteen.”