Spalletti walks tightrope on Italy ‘aspiration’ and World Cup failure | OneFootball

Luciano Spalletti warns that while Italy ‘must aspire’ to success going into EURO 2024 as European Champions, they are also most recently coming off a failed World Cup qualification.

The Azzurri find themselves not for the first time in a no man’s land where they could be among the favourites or the underdogs, depending on how you look at the situation.

They won the EURO 2020 title at Wembley Stadium by beating England on penalties, yet that was a bright light between missing out on qualification for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

“We will never be calm, wearing the Italy shirt, so we must aspire to a lot,” CT Spalletti said in his press conference today.

“Sometimes games make you struggle, but we must prove that we are able to take on this responsibility. We work seriously and we aim for the top.”

Spalletti both aspires and remembers recent upsets

Spalletti only took the job in September 2023 after Roberto Mancini’s sudden resignation and was thrown in at the deep end, days later going into crucial EURO 2024 qualifiers.

“We know where we come from. Surely, the best thing is not to tell these guys that the only way to wear this shirt proudly is to win. When I arrived, there was an open wound,” continued the coach.

“We want to grow, but we start from a non-qualification to the World Cup. We want to work seriously and we don’t want to hack ourselves.”

The Nazionale are in a very tough group for the tournament in Germany, facing Albania, Spain and Croatia.

Traditionally, they tend to do better in competitions when they start out as underdogs, as shown by the EURO 2020 trophy and the 2006 World Cup, so it is a fine line to be walking.