Graziano Pellè has felt the angst in Italy. Before the start of Euro 2016, it concerned whether Antonio Conte’s squad would be good enough. Would the Azzurri bomb at the group phase, as they had done at the past two World Cups? They gave their answer with the victories over Belgium and Sweden that secured top spot in Group E before the tie against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night. The subsequent 1-0 defeat did not really matter.
It has now gripped in a different way. Gianluigi Buffon made the point that it was unlike Italy to have made such unfussy work of a group. “We’re always the ones who are drowning going into the last minute of the third game,” the goalkeeper said.
However, their reward has been a last‑16 meeting with Spain – an extremely tough break, even if the defending champions were made to look vulnerable in their 2-1 defeat by Croatia on Tuesday. Pellè is supremely unflustered. Once again, the striker believes that Conte’s squad will turn the focus inwards and find the answer.
“Is it harsh to get Spain? We leave the media to these kind of views of the competition,” the Southampton player said. “We are focused on what we want to do. We know if we want to be the champions, we have to beat at least two good teams and, indeed, the champions themselves.
“When you start to play the quarter-finals or semi-finals, whether you like it or not, you have to beat some really good teams. We have one now and we will get more later, if we are going to go and go, but we are ready to compete with everybody.”
The openness of the tournament has been one of its defining features. No team was able to post a 100% record at the group stage and there were plenty of surprise results, including Italy’s defeat against Ireland. Pellè is encouraged by the level nature of the playing field and he sidestepped a question about whether Spain were the favourites. He suggested that the fine details which could make the difference would involve desire, the ability to handle the pressure and being tournament savvy – traits which are associated with Italy.
“We don’t have a problem with the pressure,” Pellè said. “Italian teams, in general, are a big part of the competitions, almost every time. We are a really proud country and when it is time to compete, we are always ready to put our face in front of the opponent. When you get to the end of the competitions, there are a lot of different details that make the difference. We try to work on all of them. The trainer [Conte] is really good at that but then it’s us on the field and we have to show the desire and everything to win.
“I haven’t seen a favourite so far. You never know. You can see Croatia beating Spain, Germany drawing against Poland. Especially now with new generations, the teams are really level and it depends on how the game goes. The desire you have can make the difference. We have Spain, which is an amazing team but again, the other teams are also very good.”
Pellè did not feature against Ireland as Conte rested his first-choice players, making eight changes to his starting lineup. It was a poor performance from Italy and it was easy to think that, subconsciously at least, they knew that they did not need to put their bodies on the line – unlike Ireland, who had to win in order to qualify. Pellè denied that this was why they lost.
“For sure, we wanted to win, especially because for most of our players, it was their first game of this competition,” he said. “I have never been on a field where I didn’t want to win. It was a tough game and you could see it was life or death for them. The pitch was not good. It was more for long ball and run, that type of play. But they deserved it in the end. Good for them.”
