The long wait for Italy-Austria is about to end. Six days after the last game, the measured success over Wales allowed the team to Roberto Mancini to close the group with full points, the Azzurri are ready to take the field for the match that will mark the start of the knockout phase.
Overcoming the round of 16 would allow Bonucci and his teammates to equal the result achieved five years ago by the team of Antonio Conte, but no one hides that the dream is to go as far as possible.
In the meantime, the decision regarding one of the most debated issues in the approach to the match of Wembley against Austria. The players of Italy they will not kneel before the game starts.
As reported by the ‘Corriere della Sera’, no official request has arrived from Italy to theUefa within the time allowed to deliver the official application to show a sign of support for the movement Black Lives Matter.
It will therefore not happen what happened before the match against Wales, when only five players of theItaly (Belotti, Bernardeschi, Emerson Palmieri, Pessina and Toloi) had knelt before kick-off. A diversity of behavior that had sparked a lot of controversy, which the press office of the National team had tried to extinguish in the following days.
“Not to kneel does not mean not to fight racism” had dutifully specified at the press conference Paolo Corbi, head of the communication of the national team.
After all, the behaviors of the players of the 24 participants in the final phase of Euro 2020 had been very different, between Nationals who had chosen not to join the initiative, to others that were compact in giving a strong signal by making their players kneel up to others, including Italy, which, as specified by the president federal Gabriele Gravina, had left free choice to their players.
Now in the Azzurri home the situation changes and to avoid misunderstandings it was decided to keep a single line before the match against Austria.
From what transpires, Arnautovic and his teammates will do the same. Controversy in sight? We will see, as well as to verify if the choice of Italy will change in case of qualification for the quarterfinals, where the opponent could be the Belgium, one of the national teams that has instead adhered in a compact way to the choice of having its players kneel before the start of the matches
OMNISPORT | 25-06-2021 10:05
