Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini captained Italy as they went on to win 2-0 against Northern Ireland, and he was impressed by his side’s performance.
The Azzurri kick-started their campaign with an impressive win as they stretched their unbeaten record to 23 matches in all competitions, and have just two more matches over the course of the next week to take that unbeaten record into the European Championships this summer.
Italy played out an impressive first half to control the game while taking a firm grip on the tie with the two goals, but the second-half left a little to be desired.
“We won, we didn’t concede a goal,” Chiellini stated after the final whistle (via TuttoJuve). 2It was a good start. We had an excellent first half, in the second we committed. some mistakes but we deserved the victory.
“It’s a game that I like because they are always dangerous on the back balls. We were very careful. We had an excellent game especially in the first half but I think the coach can be happy.
“Now we have two away matches that may seem like on paper. easy but away from home it’s always tough. In these two away games there are more pitfalls than they seem.
The 36 year-old was then asked about his team-mates, and he claims that the coach has much to be happy about his options.
“We are many and good. The best thing about this group was its interchangeability, not changing the yield. The coach has many arrows in his bow and the result is more important.”
Italy will now look forward to trips to Bulgaria and Lithuania as they look to continue their impressive run of form and put one foot in the World Cup.
Patrick
