If you know anything about your opponent, then you know what to and what not to do when you play against them. And it seems that West Ham midfielder Declan Rice didn’t know anything about the Italian squad ahead of the EURO 2020 final, otherwise he wouldn’t have said anything before the game. But, the young England international made a mistake and ‘provoked’ the Italians with pre-match comments which gave Leonardo Bonucci and his teammates additional motivation to win against the English at Wembley and secure the European crown.Juventus defender Bonucci behaving to his teammates like a wannabe mafiosiThe legendary Juventus defender, who used to have motivational coach who would beat him, a player of which Pep Guardiola said ‘one of my favourite-ever players’ gave a big interview for The Athletic, in which he explained what happened before the EURO 2020 finals, but also talked what went wrong with Juventus when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived and how he tried to sign for Pep Guardiola three times.(3.80) JUVENTUS (3.15) CHELSEA (2.25)It all started with the ‘Football is coming home’ song (originally “Three Lions”), made in 1996, when England, as well as this year, hosted the European Championship. Although they never won it, the English were cocky about the final match, thinking that it’s a done deal. And that song was all over the place, to the irritation of many countries. Even Luka Modric, a former Tottenham player admitted that it projected “arrogance”, with the song’s original intention and sense of humor lost in translation. And Italians were thinking that too..“We didn’t pay much attention to it until the Spain game. Then the anger inside of us began to mount. We wanted to show them that the final hadn’t already been decided. That they hadn’t already won. Hearing that song on repeat and the comment from Declan Rice saying England were 10 times more motivated to win than us… well, they’re the kind of mistakes young players make. You don’t say that. You should never say you want something more than somebody else or you’re better than somebody else. You should always put yourself on the same level as your opponent, keep a low profile and strike at the right moment. That’s what we did” explained Bonucci the story behind the extra motivation.Bounce-back clash – Chelsea to heal their City loss, Juve to return to a top-dog formThe Italian defender knew how to motivate his younger teammates before and after the matches, as he and Chiellini were among the most experienced players in the team. And as the tournament went on, their confidence grew more and more.“The Austria game was maybe the hardest from a physical perspective. They played at a high tempo and got through a lot of running. Against Spain, it was difficult on account of their possession game and we couldn’t play our own way. But mentally and physically we dug deepest that night against Austria and once the final whistle blew, we knew we could go all the way. By winning ugly, we realised we had another gear to go through and we had to go for the trophy” said Juve defender. After playing for Juventus for seven years, Bonucci had a one year episode in Milan and decided to come back ‘home’ to Turin, where he played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. The Italian international thinks that his presence was eventually bad for the players.“Cristiano’s presence had a big influence on us. Just training with him gave us something extra but subconsciously players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games. We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your team-mate day after day. Over the last few years, I think you could see that. Last season, we finished fourth and won the Coppa Italia because we became a team again. Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Cristiano he’d win us the game. But Cristiano needed the team as much as we needed him” revealed Bonucci.🗣️ Bonucci to The Athletic:“The most concrete in 2016, I was one step away from Manchester City, we were in the details then Juventus didn’t sell me and I had the dream of being coached by Guardiola.”#JFC | #ManCity— Max Statman (@emaxstatman) September 29, 2021 Considering that Pep Guardiola admitted that Juve defender is one of his all time favorite players, many were wondering why Bonucci didn’t sign for Manchester City after he left Milan, but choose Juventus again.“I had this dream of being coached by Pep. The closest we came was in 2016. I was on the brink of joining City. We were down to the very last details then Juventus decided not to sell. We decided to stay together. Then when I went to AC Milan I could have gone to City but several things had to fall into place for it to happen. I’d also given my word to Milan. Last year, I spoke to Pep again. He wanted me but I told him: ‘Juventus is my home. I’m happy here. I feel at home here’. I wanted to make up the ground I lost by going to Milan for a season. Becoming a symbol of Juventus again is the most exciting thing I could be doing in my career right now” said Bonucci.
