Gianluigi Donnarumma is embracing his new role as Italy’s leader - and he’s got Italian goalkeeping royalty by his side as he does so.
Paris Saint-Germain stopper Donnarumma is one of few survivors from the Italy squad which won Euro 2020, where his penalty shootout saves from England’s Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka secured glory at Wembley.
As the nation’s new captain he is determined to take the lessons learned from that success to Germany, where the Azzurri kick off their campaign against Albania.
“Captaincy doesn’t change me,” he said. “Sure, it is an additional responsibility, but it won’t change anything. There are a number of leaders within this squad. They’ll make themselves heard, and I will as well. I think that’s what my role is.
“Our spirit will be the same one that we had three years ago. We’ll try and reproduce those magical nights from 2021. The team are ready.
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“The previous Euro was fantastic, and they are unforgettable experiences. We’ve written history, and now we’re going to try and write another page of history for Italy.”
While Donnarumma is busy instilling the values of 2021 into the squad’s ears, he’ll have the wise words of 2006 World Cup winner Gianluigi Buffon in his.
Donnarumma has taken over as Italy's skipper (AFP via Getty Images)The goalkeeping legend has taken on the role of National Team Delegation Head, a position filled by the late, great Gianluca Vialli during Italy’s success of three years ago, and Donnarumma hopes that his presence will make all the difference.
“Having Gigi here, a player who wrote history with Italy, has been hugely important,” he continued.
“He tells us a little bit about his experiences. He told us about the unforgettable summer that they had in 2006. Having him here is already great because Gigi offers so much, but hearing him tell the story, give you advice, is even better. He can certainly give us advice on what’s gone down in history.”
Buffon tasted World Cup glory in 2006 (DDP/AFP via Getty Images)While few in Italy doubt the ability of their new national captain between the sticks, much of the talk among fans has been of the other end of the pitch, where West Ham flop Gianluca Scamacca is set to lead the line after a whirlwind few months which saw him shoot down Liverpool en route to winning the Europa League.
“Gianluca is a top class centre-forward, and he’s made giant strides in recent times,” said his captain.
“I’ve watched every single one of his matches and he’s done incredible things. I’m pleased for him, and I’m pleased for us as well, because Scamacca really can be a matchwinner.
“He’s a good target man to have out there when the going gets tough.”
Donnarumma has taken over the Italy armband (UEFA via Getty Images)Donnarumma also faces the added task of adhering to a new UEFA Euro 2024 rule which attempts to ban all players who aren’t the captain from speaking to match officials, something which comes with added complications when your captain is the goalkeeper.
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Explaining how he’ll tackle it, Donnarumma said: “When there are situations near the penalty area then I will go across and speak to the match officials, but before games we will decide as to who is going to speak to the referees for situations far from the penalty area.
“It might be Jorginho or Nicolo Barella, we’ll decide just before kick-off.”
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