Paris [France], October 2: Italy coach Roberto Mancini is under no illusions how tough it will be to face France in Zinedine Zidane's home debut as coach on Friday.
Italy lost their Nations League opener to Belgium 2-0 at home in Mancini's first game back in charge, having previously led the Azzurri to Euros glory in 2021. They have missed three straight World Cups either side of that success but beat Turkey 4-1 away last time out.
Now they visit the Stade de France and Mancini is up for it.
"Facing him will be a pleasure," the Italian told a news conference on Thursday.
"But it won't be a duel between us, it will be a great match between France and Italy that will help us understand many things and tell us a bit more."
World Cup semi-finalists France have won both their games so far under Zidane, who replaced long-serving coach Didier Deschamps.
"They're far ahead of us, but I think it will be a great challenge. It's exciting to try to beat players like Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, or Desire Doue," he added.
"Everyone would have to catch a cold for France to drop in form. But we're determined to put on a good show. We won't take the field just to defend, the goal is always to win."
Zidane 'incredibly emotional'
France coach Zinedine Zidane returns to the site of his most famous football achievement on Friday and could not be happier.
He will lead his team out against Italy as a proud man. Asked what his best moment was at France's national stadium, the coach told a news conference on Thursday: "I'm not going to be too original, I think it's what we did with the guys in '98. It was a dream to win the World Cup, especially against Brazil. We made it happen."
Now he is back as coach having opened his tenure with two 1-0 away wins last month against Turkey and Belgium.
"It's incredibly emotional, even more so tomorrow with the fans. We're ready for this match. We've prepared well. We haven't had any particular problems, it's great," the former Real Madrid boss said.
The fact his first home game in charge of Les Bleus is against Italy, the team he played in his final match before retirement in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin was lost on no one. His headbutt on Marco Materazzi and subsequent red card was his most infamous football legacy.
"The images always remind me of it since they're constantly replayed everywhere. Luckily, I haven't only done that. There are other positive memories too," Zidane said.
"I have no regrets; it's part of my career. I'm not proud of what happened."
Source: Qatar Tribune