Euro 2020 preview: Italy aim to seal knockout berth against Switzerland, Wales take on Turkey

Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri on Tuesday praised his former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini for turning Italy into possible Euro 2020 title challengers despite a lack of obvious star players.

Switzerland were held 1-1 by Wales in their Group A opener in Baku and on Wednesday take on Italy who beat Turkey 3-0 in Rome.

“I can’t wait to play this match, I can’t wait to see Roberto again tomorrow. He’s a great man, an excellent coach,” said Liverpool player Shaqiri, who had a brief spell at Inter six years ago.

“Italy are an excellent team, among the favourites.

“The team are very balanced, between attacking and defending.

“They’re a great team who play well together, there are no great players of the past like (Andrea) Pirlo, but Mancini has done a great job.

“Italy are so successful because of this. They have grown as a team.”

The Swiss come up against an Italy side who have not conceded a goal in a nine-match winning streak.

But Shaqiri knows Italy will be a force to be reckoned with going forwards, after they scored more than twice in a European Championship finals game for the first time against Turkey.

“I imagine that Italy will attack. It’s not the Italy who had the tendency to defend,” added Shaqiri.

“The current one are spectacular,…

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