The midfielder spoke to “Vivo Azzurro”: “The coach has instilled in us the desire to always be competitive, even in training. We know how much every game is worth now, we’re ready.”

“As a child, I had a mug with Gattuso’s photos on it. Then disaster struck, it broke… and I glued it back together just to get it back.” Gennaro Gattuso, now coach of the national team, was the childhood idol of Sandro Tonali, who, on the eve of the delicate World Cup qualifiers against Estonia (October 11) and Israel (October 14), told “Vivo Azzurro” how much he identifies with his coach’s spirit. “The coach instills in us a love for the blue jersey, but above all, the desire we must have to train to be super competitive: the difference in intensity between training and matches has been reduced even further. In the past, we would get lost in a glass of water, but now we’re back to hammering away.”

There was also an opportunity to talk about his possible return to Serie A, which he left in 2023 to join the Premier League: “You never know what will happen, I tell everyone that it’s possible. I’m not closing the door on Italy, it’s my country. Maybe not now, because I’ve found my balance at Newcastle. But Serie A is always beautiful.“ Meanwhile, he is receiving compliments from a legend: ”Scholes called me the best midfielder in the Premier League? When compliments come from former great players, it’s always nice and also has a good effect,” explains Tonali.

Between past and present—  There’s time for a moment of nostalgia before thinking about the present: “My first memory in blue? My first game, my debut with Mancini in Liechtenstein. It’s an emotion you only feel once. The game I’d play again? The one against North Macedonia, everything went wrong. We had 30 shots on goal and conceded one, the ball weighed 50 kilos and everything went really wrong.“ But now only the present matters, and the concentration is very high: ”All games are crucial, especially since the defeat against Norway. We know very well how much each game is worth and we are ready to take it one game at a time.”