Club mentality is secret to Italy success, says coach – We have no trauma, Germany’s Loew says of nemesis

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PARIS, June 28, (RTRS): Without the star names that have graced Italy sides in the past, coach Antonio Conte says the secret to their success at Euro 2016 has been to shun the mentality of a national team and behave like a club.

Italy came into the European Championship with an ageing squad shorn of standout talents and with few tipping them for success.

Their tournament performances, however, have confounded expectations and a 2-0 victory over Spain on Monday propelled them into the quarter-finals, where they will face Germany in Bordeaux on Saturday.

Recent Italy teams went into major tournaments with individual talents such as Mario Balotelli or Andrea Pirlo, who attracted enormous amounts of media attention.

For Conte, who has a notorious emphasis on the team ethic and industry over individuality, the way to achieve success is to mould the national team around the model of a club, where a well-drilled tactical system can stifle even the best opponents.

“I’ve always said, right from the start of my work here with the national team, that the only road we can follow if we want a bit of success is to be like a club, to be like a team that play together every week — we cannot allow ourselves to be a selection,” Conte told reporters following the victory over Spain at the Stade de France.

“I’m happy above all for the players. It’s more than a month that we’ve been working tactically, technically, mentally and we’ve been trying to surprise everybody and I think we’ve succeeded to some extent.”

Spain, who had won the previous two European titles, were comprehensively snuffed out, barely posing a threat until the closing stages of the game.

Conte feels next opponents Germany, however, could pose a greater challenge.

The world champions cruised through the group stage and thumped Slovakia 3-0 to reach the last eight.

“We now face the best side at the European Championship next Saturday,” Conte said.

“It’s going to be very, very hard in all aspects. We’ve got to do well to recover and prepare for Germany the best way we can.

“We are without Thiago Motta (suspended) and that’s a big blow, also because (Daniele) De Rossi took a knock to his hip. But we know that in adversity, we give that little bit more.”

Germany’s dismal record against Italy in major tournaments is not a source of trauma for the world champions, who will face their international nemesis in the Euro 2016 last eight, coach Joachim Loew said on Tuesday.

The Germans, who are four-time world champions and have also won three continental crowns, have always lost to Italy in World Cups and Euro knockout rounds, including in the 1970 World Cup last four, the 1982 World Cup final, a 2006 World Cup semifinal and a Euro 2012 semifinal.

The 2012 defeat was under Loew and was especially bitter, with the Germans, favourites at the time, exiting the competition following a 2-0 loss to the Italians.

“We have never beaten them in a tournament but we have no Italy trauma,” Loew said. “I do not rate the past too much.

“They are now a different team. That’s all cold coffee. A fresh espresso is better and I hope it tastes better on Saturday,” he said, taking a sip from his own coffee.

Italy advanced to the last eight with a 2-0 victory over holders Spain on Monday.

Loew, who led Germany to the 2014 World Cup title, said his players, who beat Italy 4-1 in a friendly in March, would be fully fit and rested when they faced the Italians in Bordeaux.

“We don’t fear them. We know what we can do and if we do it then we have a good chance to win it,” said the coach.

Germany went through to the last eight with a comfortable 3-0 win over Slovakia but Loew said not too much should be read into that victory.

“I think emotions from the outside are running pretty high. We were almost written off after our 0-0 (group match) against Poland. Then we win 3-0 and everything is great. Okay, we did it well … but with all due respect for our opponents, I don’t think that this victory was the measure for winning the tournament.

“What we need now is humility and modesty. Let’s keep the bar low, the ball on the ground. I have a good feeling for the weekend but we need to improve. What we have been playing is not enough to win this tournament; we have to get better.”

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