Ahead of their much-awaited Euro semi-final clash against Spain, Roberto Mancini, Italy coach, said that it is ‘very unfair’ that the vast majority of the 60,000 spectators expected at Wembley won’t be from the respective countries.
“I think it’s pretty unfair if I’m perfectly honest,” the Italy head coach said.
“We’re better off playing in front of any crowd as opposed to playing in front of a small number of people; that’s what’s great about football and entertainment in general. But I do think it’s very unfair that we don’t have half the stadium full of Italian fans and half the stadium full of Spaniards,” he added.
Wembley is hosting both the semifinals, and the final on Sunday. There is scope for 75 per cent of the venue’s 90,000 capacity to house fans in each of the three games after a deal between the UK government and UEFA last month. A massive rise from the 41,973 spectators who witnessed England’s last-16 victory against Germany at Wembley last week and the crowd on Tuesday will be by far the biggest at a British sporting event since 16 months.
Spain’s attacking line is likely to feature Alvaro Morata, a team mate of Italy defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini at Juventus has had quite a few critics during the tournament.
“He is a friend, we are often together,” Bonucci said. “I know what it means to read criticism, to hear certain things. I am close to him, Alvaro is an exquisite person, a good guy, a great player.” the Italian defender added.
