ROME - A convincing and upbeat Italy look to preserve their
maximum point tally when they close the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign
by welcoming Armenia to Palermo on Monday.
With first place in Group J already secured, the Azzurri moved to 27
points from nine games by beating hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 on
Friday.
Group I leaders Belgium are the only other side on a perfect record
ahead of Saturday's visit to second-placed Russia.
The win at Zenica was the 10th straight for Italy boss Roberto
Mancini, who broke a record set 80 years ago by Vittorio Pozzo.
"It's nice to have gone ahead of a legend like Pozzo, but he won five
trophies, including two World Cups (in 1934 and 1938)," the low-key
Mancini said of his predecessor.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/EURO2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EURO2020? pic.twitter.com/2QdtcnGJg0
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@UEFAEURO)
Pozzo also led the Azzurri to an Olympic gold medal and twice won the
Central European International Cup, a precursor of the current
European championship, which Italy lifted only in 1968.
"The road is still long but we're happy. The guys have been good,
they've done well technically from the start. Everyone played well
today, you don't win 3-0 otherwise," said Mancini, who was appointed
in May 2018, six months after the four-time world champions failed to
qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
His only defeats in a 12-4-2 record were 3-1 in a friendly at world
champions France and a 1-0 to European title holders Portugal in the
Nations League.
While savouring the Bosnia win and record, Mancini urged the squad to
keep their focus until the end of matches.
"At the end, we dropped back too deep and we need to improve on that.
When you start to tire, it's better to defend higher up," he said.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuropeanQualifiers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuropeanQualifiers🏆 #Mancini after beating Vittorio Pozzo's record: "I'm happy but the road is still long."
➡️ https://t.co/xp3nVeGGdh #BOSITA🇧🇦🇮🇹 #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/4UQWklUj3B
— Italy (@azzurri)
Andrea Belotti, who closed the scoring to tally his ninth goal with
La Nazionale, agreed that there is room for improvement.
"Ten wins from 10 is good for a side that had to start again (after
missing out on the World Cup)," the Torino striker said. "It's nice
because winning helps you to keep winning. We'll take the record but
we want other records and have other dreams."
With tactical tweaks expected against Armenia, Belotti is to give way
to Lazio's Ciro Immobile, who has one less goal with the Azzurri, but
tops the Serie A chart on 14 from 12 games.