Ciro Immobile, new captain of Italy and Lazio striker, spoke to TG1 about the decision to allow him to wear the armband, by virtue of his 56 total appearances with the Azzurri, more than anyone else: “Twenty years ago as a teenage player I hoped to play for the Azzurri, but becoming captain of the national team was a truly fantastic dream. Now it has come true, I am trying to hold on to this place with the help of my teammates, because it is also thanks to them that I have had this nomination, they have seen in me what I can give so I am very happy”.
The Azzurri will find the Northern Macedonia who denied us the World Cup in Qatar a year and a half ago. “That was the most painful and burning defeat of my career. – continues Immobile – Even more than the one with Sweden, because we were coming from a beautiful moment and from strong joys and emotions shared all together and probably that broke our legs a bit, because we certainly didn't expect it. We were too frenetic, too eager to get the result immediately and unfortunately this didn't pay off".
Di Spalletti says: “His way of approaching the team and the individual player, his way of communicating all his feelings and of training the National, we followed it from start to finish, so I'm convinced that we will have a beautiful journey and tomorrow will only be the beginning".
In Skopje, however, the Azzurri will face a pitch in very poor condition, as he also pointed out Goran Pandev, former Macedonian striker of Lazio and Inter. Immobile is aware of this, as are all the Azzurri: "We know, the coach told us about it. We have received some images that prove it, but we will do everything we can to overcome this difficulty too." “The no to Saudi Arabia? Yes, I wanted to continue to experience certain emotions with this shirt, to be able to demonstrate that I am still capable of giving a lot and with the European Championship ahead of me, I have to do it immediately”.
Article published on 8 September 2023 - 18:10
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