Supercup, Walter Mazzarri believes: “On a par as a mentality”
Walter Mazzarri spurs his team on the eve of the Super Cup final
The first Italian Super Cup played with the Final Four format will still see the reigning Italian champion team and the winner of the Coppa Italia in the previous season, i.e. Napoli and Inter, face each other, as in the dry competition editions. For Walter Mazzarri it will be an opportunity to win his second trophy as coach, after the national cup in 2012.
It was precisely in 2012 that Mazzarri's only other previous Super Cup appearance: on that occasion Napoli lost 4-2 to Juventus in extra time, in Beijing: "In 23 years of my career I've; happened to compete for this trophy, I hope to be able to raise it,” he said in a press conference. “If not, I'm happy anyway, not all coaches who start from scratch like me get to play it twice".
Extra time, as per this year's regulations, there won't be, but Mazzarri would not sign to take Inter to play it all on penalties: "Let's not joke,” he lamented, “I am coaching guys who are Italian champions, until someone else wins the Scudetto. We faced each other in the league with Inter, we played the game and they scored three goals on the counterattack. It's true, we lack some players, but at the level of mentality; we are on par".
For Napoli, this year's is the fifth participation in the Supercoppa Italiana: two successes, in 1990 (5-1 against Juventus) and in 2014 (6-5 on penalties, after the 2-2 draw at 120', again against the Bianconeri); the same number of defeats, which came in the already mentioned 2012 and 2020 edition (again against Juventus, which won 2-0 in January 2021).
