Italy and Argentina prepare to play a friendly match in homage to Pope Francis, 12 years after their last encounter.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli:
“Clearly we would like to be able to continue playing the way we have been doing during the Confederations Cup, which means being able to have a balanced game for many minutes in a match, and at this point of the season this would already be a great result. But the spirit of this game must be to celebrate, because the idea behind this match was to welcome the Holy Father, and also the two teams are staying in the same hotel probably for the first time ever.”
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli:
“(We want to) fight back on every single ball against this great team with excellent players, technically great, and this means that when we will be in possession of the ball we will have to be able to move it well, and also we must enter the match with the right mood. And this means attacking, knowing that it will be dangerous, but if you want to improve you have to risk something, forcefully.”