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Euro 2020 fans hail ‘class act’ Roberto Mancini as Italy boss subs on keeper Sirigu after his own World Cup heartbreak
ROBERTO MANCINI made the unusual decision to bring on goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma against Wales, and received praise from fans for doing so.
Italy dominated proceedings and with Wales a goal and a man down, Mancini felt confident in taking off his number one goalkeeper.
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After all, the Azzuri have now not conceded a goal in eleven matches and limited Wales to just one shot on target.
Sirigu’s arrival onto the pitch in the 89th minute means Mancini has now used every one of his 26-man squad, with the exception of keeper Alex Meret.
There were wholesale changes against Wales, with only Donnarumma, Jorginho and Leonardo Bonucci maintaining their place in the side.
Mancini has been keen to offer opportunities to every player in his squad, and stated after the match that he has no definitive starters.
His motivation behind Sirigu’s substitution may arise from the fact he missed out on Italia 90 despite being part of the Italy squad, which he has labelled his biggest regret.
And Mancini’s desire to hand minutes to even his backup goalkeeper has earned plaudits from fans.
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Roberto Mancini made an unusual substitution in the 89th minute today.
He took off Donnarumma and sent Sirigu on.
The thinking behind this was his regret. He was taken to the World Cup in 1990 & never played any game.
He still calls that the biggest regret of his career.
pic.twitter.com/RGtl9G06uI
— FootballFunnys (@FootballFunnnys) June 20, 2021
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Speaking after the victory over Wales, Mancini said: “The guys are very clever and they wanted to win every game, they have a good mentality.
“I’m very happy also for this reason because we changed eight players and we played a very good game.”
“The identity has remained the same and I think it is important. I say that changing a few players shouldn’t change anything because everyone knows what they have to do, and the product doesn’t change.
“Today they have shown that they are all starters. It was a game that we wanted to win even if it could be unneeded, but succeeding was a matter of mentality, it wasn’t easy.”
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