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.
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