TMW
“Analogies between Lippi and Spalletti? The management of the group, there is a moment in which it is nice to be a friend of the group and a moment in which the group must understand that there is a commander. These two things are necessary if you want to go until the end”. The head of the Azzurri delegation Gianluigi Buffon identifies the main element of similarity between the current coach and the world champion coach in Berlin, the day after Italy’s victory in Dortmund against Albania, at Casa Azzurri, on the sidelines of the awards ceremony of the competition “The best goal of our national teams: score goals too!” organized by the Italian Embassy in Germany, in collaboration with FIGC.
“The coach tries to make the most of what he has available and – adds Buffon – uses the stick every now and then and the carrot, they are necessary elements to get the most out of the boys”. Then Buffon looks to the near future which will see Italy opposing Spain in match 2 at Euro 2024: “With Spain the coach made clear our desire, which is to get the best out of everyone. With Spain we will play to get the best maximum and make a good impression. The Spain of my time (that of 2016, ed.) was at the end of the cycle, we are a national team at the beginning of the cycle, I want to think that in two years we will be at the top but already now we can reach performance levels high”.