Italy beats Turkey yet again. And it leaves us saying once more, “I’d hoped for better”

Something has changed. Indeed, something has changed – not so much, and not only, in the men’s national football team, but in us. Watching Italy’s first half against Turkey, we found ourselves thinking ‘I’d hoped for better’, rather than the overused ‘I’d expected worse’ that has accompanied us through the Azzurri’s recent years.

The match against Turkey was, for a long time, a poor affair, played rather badly and in a disorganised manner. However, we saw eleven men in blue shirts running, chasing, looking for each other and sweating in the quest for a good result. This was the third consecutive match confirming that the national team players have rediscovered what seemed to have vanished: the desire to give their all whilst wearing the Azzurri colours. This was the starting point that head coach Roberto Mancini simply had to build upon. And even in a so-so match – the sort that can happen – the national team’s rediscovered spirit shone through. The final result – a 3–1 victory for Italy over Turkey, which took them to second place in the Nations League group – was the other positive note of the evening in Bologna. This was also thanks to the news from Paris: France beat Belgium 4–1, and now anything is possible.

Admittedly, very few people know what shape the Nations League trophy takes, and even fewer dream of winning it one day. Perhaps because it’s a relatively new competition, perhaps because the final stages are played in a rush and without much conviction, or perhaps simply because it’s hard to see the point of a mini European Championship when the real one is played in two summers’ time. However, these are official matches, and after a summer spent watching other nations’ World Cups and being forced to pick a random national team to support, Italian football needed a bit of optimism, a few wins and the hope that all was not lost.

All is not lost. The team has made a start – despite the embarrassing defeat against Belgium, it has secured two wins against Turkey and a draw with France; the younger players, in particular, have reignited some enthusiasm among the older ones. Nonetheless, several rough edges remain; the manager has certain favourites – which is entirely understandable – leading him to view the performances of some of the more experienced players through overly generous eyes, but such is life. The perspective of those watching from the sidelines is almost never better than that of a manager.

Roberto Mancini struck a balance between optimism and realism: “We’ve managed to turn around a difficult situation, but it’s still too early to draw any conclusions. We must carry on like this; by November, we need to be ready to give it our all in Belgium.”

The fixtures are scheduled for 12 November at the San Siro stadium for Italy v France, and then on 15 November in Brussels for Belgium v Italy. Just over a month to see whether this early-autumn confidence will continue or whether it will fade away, lingering amongst the memories of those three weeks when the national team briefly became the subject of bar-room chat without too much swearing.