Dynamic Italy blazing a trail from ashes of World Cup failure

Italy may have shed their old defence-first persona under previous coaches such as Antonio Conte, but Mancini has taken them to the next level, building a hyper-pressing team that suffocate opponents in their own half.

Roberto Mancini has said it took "the end of the world" for him to become Italy coach but his side now appear to be in a brave new world following a classy 3-0 win over Switzerland on Wednesday that propelled them into the Euro 2020 knockouts.