On Sunday, Italy manager Antonio Conte, alongside keeper Gianluigi Buffon, held the final press conference in Lyon ahead of Monday’s titanic Group Stage clash against Belgium. Here is what the former Bianconeri leader had to say.
Antonio Conte, courtesy of vivoazzurro.it:
“We made the finishing touches to our preparation for tomorrow’s game this morning. I’m really excited personally because these are important occasions that I experienced as a player and that I’m now experiencing as a coach. It’s a moment of great pride and satisfaction but also of responsibility. I’m very happy with how we’ve worked. We’ve looked to go about things in the best way possible. I’m satisfied. We hope that it’ll be a good game. It’s important to use our heads.”
“It will be important to use our heads in order to put into practice what we’ve been doing in training. When you play in a tournament like this, you feel a whole nation behind you. We’ll be 46 warriors, 23 from Italy and 23 from Belgium.”
Conte, who is set to take the bench of Chelsea after the European Championship concludes, identifies a few key areas for his Azzurri:
“The first games have gone to form. The match is between two attacking teams. Technique, tactics and physicality will be crucial.”
Belgium are among the favorites to win it all in France, and Conte is fully aware of how talented this Belgium side truly is:
“They have very few weaknesses and it isn’t true that their defence is in crisis. When we played them in the friendly, it was an open, entertaining game. They have wonderful attacking midfielders and defenders. Look at which clubs they play for and you’ll understand.”
Despite some uncertainty surrounding the talent in the side, Conte feels he has a versatile, well-rounded group:
“The team can adapt to different tactics during the game. I’ve been really pleased with the lads.”
Kick-off begins tomorrow at 3:00pm (21:00 CEST) at Stade de Lyon in France.
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