Coach Luciano Spalletti said Thursday
that Italy must play to a level that befits their illustrious
past ahead of Friday's match against North Macedonia in Rome.
The game is the first of two crunch Euro 2024 qualifiers, with
the second being Monday's clash with Ukraine in Leverkusen in
Germany.
The reigning European champions need four points from the two
games to be sure of going to next year's tournament in Germany.
The Azzurri are third in qualification Group C with 10 points
from six games, six behind already-qualified leaders England and
three behind Ukraine, who have played one game more.
"Italy will need to be up to the standard of their history, with
the quality of football that you need to display at the
international level," Spalletti told Sky.
"We need an Italy team that has strong character and players who
know how to face this situation.
"We are playing for our nation and we must be ready to do
everything.
"We have prepared very well and we have a team capable of making
leaps forward, not steps".
On Friday Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni withdrew from the
Italy squad with a calf injury.
Spalletti called up AS Roma's Gianluca Mancini to take Bastoni's
place.
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