Soccer: No Renaissance with 3 Italians in UCL qtrs - Mancini

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 20 - There can be no talk of a 'Reniassance' for Italian football after three Italian clubs got to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 17 years, Italy coach Roberto Mancini said Monday, saying it would only be so if there were 33 Italians playing for Napoli, Inter and Milan.
    ''I would not speak of a rebirth of Italian football because there are three teams of ours in the Champions League quarter-finals, it would be like that if there were 33 Italian players in AC Milan, Napoli and Inter, but as it cannot be like that half would be enough'', said a visibly disconsolate Mancini on the first day of the national team's meeting at its Coverciano training centre outside Florence to prepare for its first European qualifying matches against England and Malta.
    Napoli, AC Milan and Inter, like most top Italian clubs, have a majority of foreign players on their books.
    Euro 2020 champions Italy kick off their bid to qualify for the next tournament in Germany next year by hosting England in Naples on Thursday before travelling to Malta on March 26.
    (ANSA).