Manager Roberto Mancini’s team played as a unit and, for at least fifty minutes (not consecutive), performed very well. The question is: is it all down to the Azzurri, or is this Turkish side simply a modest one that was poorly organised on the pitch?

The manager has decided that it is time to start trusting those he had deemed worthy of the Azzurri shirt. Against Turkey, Italy are looking for the enthusiasm and desire to play that they have been lacking for years.

The men’s national football team makes its Nations League debut against Belgium. The restoration of the ‘Mancien Régime’ is underway – ever new and elegant, just as the manager has always been able to reinvent himself time and again throughout his many careers as a coach