In a recent interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Slovakia's national team manager Calzona gave his opinion on the upcoming Italy-Spain showdown. He believes that the current Italian national team is not inferior to Spain in terms of strength, and that the level of this Spanish team is not as good as it used to be.
Calzona began with his thoughts on the marquee matchup, "I don't think the Italian team is inferior. This Spanish team, as far as I can personally observe, is not at the same level as in the past."
In the interview, Calzona also mentioned his admiration for the famous Italian manager Spalletti: "Spalletti has taught me a lot of new things, especially his strict management of the team and its surroundings. He is very controlling and has everything under his control. Nothing escaped him. He is flexible and adaptable in different environments and is very good at communicating with the team."
Returning to the Italian team, Calzona echoed Spalletti's sentiments on the team: "This team needs to be highly focused, they don't allow any distractions or mistakes in the game." He went on to point out that despite all the talk about Spain's ball control, the Italians are no slouch in that department either: "People always talk about Spain's ball control, it's their culture, but we're not bad either. Our players, like Barella, Jorginho, Cristante and Pellegrini, are very good in possession. Our wing-backs and center-backs, such as Bastoni and Calafiori, aren't afraid to handle the ball either, not to mention Di Lorenzo and Di Marco."
Calzona concluded by confidently stating that if Italy has possession of the ball, it will be very difficult for the opponents to get it back: "If we have the ball, who can guarantee that they will be able to steal it from our feet? We have enough strength to excel not only in one-on-one confrontations, but also in playing in tight spaces."
