‘I know Italy will take something home over the next four years’, says Mancini

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Roberto Mancini says he has rejoined Italy to “win as soon as possible” as he prepares to lead them in their Nations League campaign.

Mancini was brought back in as Italy’s head coach at the end of July, ending a long, chaotic process to find their new boss, which included multiple setbacks.

Following failed talks with several big-name coaches, Mancini replaced Gennaro Gattuso, who had failed to secure World Cup qualification for the Azzurri for the third edition running.

In his first spell between 2018 and 2023, he led Italy to the Euro 2020 title and oversaw a 37-match unbeaten streak, a European record that was only surpassed by Spain when they lifted the World Cup title this summer.

The first game of Mancini’s second stint will be against Belgium on September 25, with a double-header against Turkiye to follow, either side of a trip to France.

He twice secured third-place finishes for Italy in the Nations League (2020-21 and 2022-23) last time around, and the 61-year-old is determined to bring success back to the Azzurri.

“We don’t know how long it will take, but we’ll have to be quick in understanding the players we have and figuring out what they can give us in the future,” Mancini said in a press conference.

“Some experienced players have remained at home, but they might be useful in the future. We already know them, so we wanted to get to know the young ones.

“We have important matches coming up, official games right from the start, with no room for mistakes. We have to win and climb back up the rankings.

“In the past, we didn’t have many [young players]. We are happy they are flourishing now. They have the technical skills and physicality. In the past, we had enormous technical quality and not so much physicality.”

— Italy (@Azzurri_En) September 21, 2026

“I’m here to win. I never started to lose. I’m here to win as soon as possible, if we can manage to.

“I’m curious to see the younger lads at work; to build a team with these lads. It’s something that makes me curious. I’m sure we’ll get satisfaction.

“When you start doing something, you want to do it beautifully and keep the fans entertained. I know we’ll take something home over the next four years. I know something about footballers; they only need to play.

“I want a team that dominates and plays well. You can’t always win, but we’ll try. We have nothing negative.”

Italy have been dealt a blow ahead of the start of their camp, though, with Federico Dimarco ruled out of their four games through injury.

In a statement, Italy revealed he was suffering from an issue he sustained with Inter. Aston Villa’s Matteo Ruggeri has been called up in his place.

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