On the heels of a brilliant opening fixture against Turkey, Italy are hoping to maintain their great run of form with another victory against Switzerland on Wednesday night.
The Azzurri managed to dispatch their Turkish opponents with a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, whilst Juve’s Merih Demiral scored the first goal of the tournament in his own net.
Alongside the colossal Giorgio Chiellini, Leonado Bonucci put up a solid shift last Friday, and the vice-captain is tipped play a major role for his national team throughout the tournament.
The 34-year-old spoke about the strength within Roberto Mancini’s squad, and the importance of having so many leaders in the group.
“The beauty of this squad is that there is not just one captain, there are many, many leaders in this group. Everyone is a part of it, everyone is responsible for himself and for the team. The champion of this national team is the group itself,” said the Juventus veteran according to Calciomercato.
“The result against Turkey was great, winning on the debut gave us great enthusiasm. It was great to see so many people at the stadium. It hadn’t happened for a long time and it was exciting, but now we have to turn the page and focus on the next goal.”
The former Bari and Milan defender also spoke about Italy’s next opponents, and gave them credit for their performance in their first match in the tournament.
“Against Wales, Switzerland deserved all three points, it’s a team that deserves respect because they have done well in recent years. They have international players, a coach who has been working with them for some time and well-established mechanisms.
Bonucci also talked about the younger members of the Italy squad.
“It is important that even the players who have not had the opportunity to compete in European competitions in recent years have responded positively to the debut match. There was a bit of emotion in the first minutes from everyone, then we changed gear in the second half. These young players are all here because the coach considers them ready for the task.”
