Manager Mancini is Italy's standout at Euro as Azzurri get off to winning start vs Turkey

The victory extended the Azzurri’s unbeaten streak to 28 matches – two shy of the team record set under Vitorio Pozzo nearly a century ago – and marked the first time in Italy’s history at the European Championship (39 matches played) when it scored three goals

ROME

For months, Italy’s players have been repeating the same mantra: “Our strength is in the group. We don’t have a single standout player.”

The Azzurri do have a standout coach, though, and Roberto Mancini’s impact in turning around a team that failed to qualify for the last World Cup into a European Championship contender is worthy of praise.

“We play soccer now, as the coach has asked us to, and that’s the thing that has changed most over these last few years under Mancini,” veteran defender Leonardo Bonucci said after Italy dazzled in the second half in a 3-0 win over Turkey in the Euro 2020 tournament opener.

The victory extended the Azzurri’s unbeaten streak to 28 matches - two shy of the team record set under Vitorio Pozzo nearly a century ago and marked the first time in Italy’s history at the European Championship (39 matches played) that it scored three goals.