Roberto Mancini praised Italy’s performance in the match, which ended 1-1 European Nations League A draw with France is considered a “step forward”.
And after seeing Italy beat Turkey 4-1 for their first win in his second spell in charge last time out, Mancini received another impressive display from his side against a more famous opposition in a raucous Stade de France.
It looked as if Italy would pay the price for not taking advantage of their chances – most notably an opportunity that Moise Kean somehow missed in the ninth minute – when a stunning free-kick from Michael Olis put France ahead 10 minutes into the second half.
But the Azzurri responded with confidence and equalized when Alessandro Bastoni took advantage of a mistake by Lucas da Cunha to score his second goal in the same number of matches.
Italy were grateful for a raft of fine saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but they also had chances to win the game and may be a little disappointed not to have done so after France centre-back Dayot Upamecano was sent off in the 85th minute.
But Mancini was very satisfied with what he saw in Saint-Denis.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game, especially at the beginning, but we did well to allow them a few chances, even if they had more possession,” Mancini told Rai Sports.
“We played as a team, attacking and defending together, and it was definitely a very positive evening for us.
“I wanted this to be another step forward in our journey. I liked that we tried to play football, even though we were against an exceptional France team full of champions.
“Sometimes we struggled, but we always tried to score goals whenever we had the chance, which is very good.”
Bastoni: Italy can do that against any team
Meanwhile, Bastoni believes Italy’s performance should give them confidence in their ability to compete with any team despite missing out on World Cup qualifiers for the third time in a row earlier this year.
“It was a difficult match, we knew it would be so, and this is not news, but I am very happy with the team’s performance,” Bastoni told Ray.
“We fought hard, we struggled, we spoiled some goals for France tonight, as they were preparing for a big celebration. We knew we weren’t coming here for a walk in the park, and that’s what happened.
“It’s certainly fun to score again, but the moment we did, I thought we had to make sure we didn’t concede another goal, otherwise it would have been all points. This is a good result that boosts our confidence going forward.
“I didn’t expect to score two goals, but I never lost confidence in myself. I won’t let one or two situations ruin my career of more than 300 games. I thank my family for being there for me and I hope that keeping my head up will be seen as a positive thing.
“We believed in our chances of winning from the start, and we actually had the best chances in the first half to break the deadlock. It’s a strong sign, because if we can put in a performance like this against France in Paris, we can do it against any team.
“Now there is another match in this round and we are not taking anything for granted, it is another important test.”
Italy hosts Türkiye in Bologna on Monday in its final match of this extended international break.
