Roberto Mancini was pleased with yet another win, having watched his Italy side claim a 2-0 win over Bulgaria on Sunday night.
Italy boss Roberto Mancini was satisfied with his side’s showing against ‘Bulgaria, while adding that there’s no such thing as an ‘easy match’.
The Azzurri again weren’t exactly at their best, but did enough for a 2-0 victory thanks to an Andrea Belotti penalty and Manuel Locatelli curler.
It was the same result as against Northern Ireland on Thursday, giving the Nazionale a perfect start to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Until this evening, Italy had never won a competitive match on Bulgarian soil. Mancini was pleased to see his record a crucial victory in their quest for the global showpiece in Qatar next year.
“All games are difficult, especially against teams like Bulgaria who put everyone behind the ball and just wait for the counter-attack.” Mancini told RAI Sport.
“Until you find the breakthrough, there are no spaces and it makes life difficult”
“We are at a moment of the season where the players are a little tired. We didn’t allow a single chance in the first half, and we only did in the second after we wasted numerous opportunities to extend our lead.”
Mancini added: “As I said, there is no such thing as an easy match. The other teams don’t give you space and instead just try to neutralise you. Until you get the opening goal, that’s at a deadlock.
“I still think we put in a very good performance in the circumstances. We tried after the second goal tonight to score a third, which is what we should’ve done against Northern Ireland.”
“I don’t see other sides winning 7-0 or 8-0 either this week. We know goal difference is important, but the points mean even more and we hope to beat Switzerland.”
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