DBasia.news – Italy started their campaign at the 2020 European Cup brilliantly. They hit Turkey with three goals without reply in the opening match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Saturday (12/6) am. Gli Azzurri’s top performance has made the legendary coach Zdenek Zeman beam.
In the match against Turkey, there were things that appeared interesting, especially from the performances of Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile, who each scored one goal. If you pay attention, Immobile and Insigne seemed to have been playing together for 10 years. And, rightly so.
There is one person who will definitely be proud to see Immobile and Insigne’s appearance at the Olimpico. This is Zdenek Zeman. The coach from the Czech Republic who already considers Italy as his second country can be said to have been behind Italy’s success in the opening match, especially the brilliant performances of Insigne and Immobile.
The coach who had handled AS Roma was the first person to pair Insigne and Immobile as a duet. So if the duo appears like they’ve been playing together for years, it’s because they’ve been working together for years.
Immobile scored 28 goals and Insigne 18 as both played for Pescara in the 2011-12 Serie B season. At that time Pescara was taken care of by Zeman, a coach who in Italy is called a teacher of attacking football. Apart from Insigne and Immobile, the team also includes Marco Verratti.
The togetherness in Pescara built a special relationship between Insigne and Immobile. Although the club later split, the two are still close friends. Just see the look on their faces when celebrating Italy’s goal yesterday. Likewise when speaking to the media after the game.
“I’m also happy with Lorenzo’s goal. It was a goal from a beautiful team movement,” said Immobile.
As Immobile said, Insigne’s goal did look good. The goal came through a movement commonly seen in rugby. The ball moved horizontally from right to left until it is closed through Insigne’s deadly finish. Movements that are often seen in Zeman’s team play. No wonder, because the main actors of the goal were two big players under Zeman’s tutelage.
Off the pitch, Insigne and Immobile are the ropes that hold Roberto Mancini’s entire squad together. The close relationship between the two spreads to other players. Laughter and jokes were heard at Coverciano, Italy’s training base. Typical Napoli jokes from Insigne and Immobile were indeed able to lighten the atmosphere.
“Our strength is the group mentality. The coach has built a great team,” said Insigne.
Besides having fun, the Azzurri are very serious on the pitch. They won their last nine matches without conceding, scoring 28 goals. They are also unbeaten in 28 matches. Italy had a perfect record as Immobile scored his 14 goals (12 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses).
It seems that Mancini and Italy must thank Zeman that the Pescara duo was able to continue to maintain their performance throughout the tournament.