From the dark days of Italy’s 2018 World Cup qualifying fiasco to the eve of the European championships, Roberto Mancini has transformed the fortunes of fallen footballing giants Italy.

A flawless Euro 2020 qualifying campaign has positioned the four-time World Cup winners as among the favourites in a tournament which they kick off at home on June 11 against Turkey in Rome.

Former Inter and Manchester City boss Mancini was appointed in May 2018 after an ageing and lacklustre Italy missed out a World Cup finals for the first time since 1958, failing to score in a play-off against Sweden.

 

Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the new sports website by Times of Malta

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.