Euro 2024, Italy: Gigi Buffon praises Azzurri’s resilience
Euro 2024, Italy: Gigi Buffon praises Azzurri’s responsiveness
Gigi Buffon, the day after Italy's 2-1 win in Dortmund over Albania, relives the match with the press at Casa Azzurri, on the sidelines of the award ceremony of the competition "The best goal of our national teams: you score too!" organized by the Italian Embassy in Germany, in collaboration with Figc.
" Yesterday it was not easy to react, but our strength è clinging to the game, we did so ì and we deserved the victory. In yesterday's game we have to put the focus on the shock start and the disadvantage and the serenity with which we managed to make up for it in a few minutes, that was the strongest signal to take. Then probably with a little more cynicism we would not have risked at the nineteenth minute to see the victory fade away”.
“Yesterday,” Buffon recalls, “I relived the 2006 emotions by seeing Del Piero again, I who am so focused on the present, a few steps backward I did”. Then from the stage while awarding the boys who participated in the event at the Italian Embassy in Berlin Buffon added: "When there'è Italy, we all row on the same side and for me this è was magic and to have been here in Germany and win a World Cup, è the greatest gift life could give me and I still get moved”.
"Similarities between Lippi and Spalletti? The management of the group,” Buffon added, “there's the moment when it's good to be a friend of the group and a moment when the group has to understand that there's a commander. These two things are necessary if you want to go all the way. The coach tries to make the most out of what he has available to him and adopts the occasional stick and carrot, these are necessary elements to get the most out of the boys".
Then Buffon looks ahead to the near future that will see Italy opposing Spain in match-2 at Euro 2024: " with Spain the coach made it clear our desire, è to get the most out of everyone. With Spain we will play to get the maximum and make a good impression. Spain of my era (the one in 2016, ed) was at the end of the cycle, we are a national team at the beginning of the cycle, I want to think that in two years we will be at the top but already now we can reach high levels of performance". Final on Donnarumma and the decisive save in the final against Albania: " yesterday he made a very important save, he put on ice a victory that if it had faded would have been a shame".
