🎤 Massimo Ambrosini Euro 2024 Interview and Predictions

Massimo Ambrosini gives his Views on EURO2024

Massimo Ambrosini shares his Euro 2024 predictions, highlighting France, Kylian Mbappe, Toni Kroos, Portugal, Italy's prospects, England's strength, and his preference for the Golden Goal rule.

🏆 Massimo Ambrosini's Euro 2024 Predictions! 🏆

🏆 Euro 2024 Winner: France, with their strong team.

⚽ Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappe, after his Champions League performance.

🌟 Player of the Tournament: Toni Kroos, chosen for sentimental reasons.

🐴 Dark Horses: Portugal, under Roberto Martinez.

🇮🇹 Italy's Prospects: Realistic view of reaching the quarterfinals.

🔮 Match Predictions:

• Italy vs Albania: 1-0 for Italy.
• Italy vs Spain: 1-1 draw.
• Italy vs Croatia: 1-1 draw.

Massimo Ambrosini Euro 2024 Predictions

Massimo Ambrosini

35 Caps for Italy, inc Euro 2000 & 2008

Q: Who will win Euro 2024?

MA: “I think France have the strongest team. They have so many good players with so much experience. For me, right now, they are better than the competition.”

Euro 2024 Betting Odds

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Q: Who will win the Golden Boot at Euro 2024?

MA: “I would pick Kylian Mbappe, especially after the Champions League which he wanted to win so badly with PSG, he has even more power after that. Of course he's going to score many goals.”

Euro 2024 Golden Boot Betting Odds

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Q: Who will win the player of the tournament?

Toni Kroos is Ambrosini's pick for Player of the Tournament.MA: “I'm a little bit romantic so I’m going to pick one of my favourite midfielders, Toni Kroos.

“He will end his career with Real Madrid and of course as well with Germany. Because I'm romantic, I’ll pick Kroos.”

Q: Who are the dark horses for Euro 2024?

MA: “I like Portugal, but not only for Cristiano Ronaldo, I like the manager Roberto Martinez.

“He has done a very good job wherever he has been so maybe they are ready. They have strong players with so much experience like Pepe, who has had an amazing, amazing season with Porto. 

“They also have Ruben Dias and Rafael Leao. So if I have to pick one, I pick Portugal.”

Q: How far will Italy get at Euro 2024?

MA: “I would like to be honest about Italy, I don't have a special feeling right now even though  Luciano Spalletti is the best manager we could have at the moment.

“I don't know if he has enough time to give to the group his ideas. We have also lost one key player in Francesco Acerbi, who would’ve brought so much experience

“We still have many good players but I’m realistic, we need to go through the group, of course. Then for me, a quarterfinal is an optimistic position for Italy.”

Q: Who will be the star player for Italy?

MA: “Of course Italy’s most important player is Nicolo Barella. The level he reached in this last season with Inter showed him to be a top player. 

“For me, he needed to reach one more step to become a very, very top player, but this season he has added so much more to his game.

“He’s a strong player, box to box, then he needed to add more skill to his game, which he did on the ball last season, he has more than he had in the past.”

By Biser Todorov - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=102551022

Q: How does this Italy squad rank against previous generations?

MA: “Right now, this Italy team has less quality than the squad had at Euro 2020.

“Italy are strange because we failed to qualify for the last two World Cup, and then in the middle we won the European Championships, we can be a strange team.

“That squad grew day by day at Euro 2020, game by game, they created a special feeling in that tournament, I’m not yet sure if the current team can be as good.”

Q: What is the feeling about the strength of the England team in Italy?

MA: “I love England. I love England. I love everything about England. I love the manager too because at the beginning I didn't think he could achieve the level that he has.

“Right now you found an amazing player like Cole Palmer, I also love Connor Gallagher. I love many players, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden. I love the way he played this season.

“So I think England have everything to go through to the final as they did last time.

“But in this competition, as in every competition, the fine details make the difference. Especially in this tournament and I think there are many squads that are on the same level.

“Just look at France, England, Italy, Spain, Germany and Belgium. I don’t see a lot between these sides, the differences are going to be small.”

Q: Could England get revenge of their own against Italy this summer?

MA: “After Italy, I’ll support England. Maybe England deserve to win this tournament and Italy deserved the last one, we will see.”

Q: Can Gianluigi Donnarumma be compared to Gianluigi Buffon?

MA: “In Italy, sometimes we like to criticise Gianluigi Donnarumma. People in Italy, especially in Milan, cried when he left for PSG.

“But in all honesty, he’s not on the same level as Gianluigi Buffon, we talk about Buffon like he’s a god. For Donnarumma to arrive on that level he needs to play a bigger role in the team for three or four more years to get near to that level.”

Q: What does the iconic Italy shirt mean to you?

MA: “When I wore the Italy shirt for the first time, it felt like a dream. We have a lot of passion in Italy, I think we have that in common with Italy.

“I played at AC Milan for 17 years and had so much emotion there, with Italy it felt different and just as special. You realise you have 16 million people behind you and you can feel that.

“So it's amazing. I'm very proud to have worn this shirt 35 times, it was always an amazing feeling, incredible.”

Q: Who was the biggest character in the dressing room during your time in the team?

MA: “If you want to become a good team, a great team, you have to mix your characters.

“I played a lot with the international team with Gennaro Gattuso, when I first played Paolo Maldini was the captain. 

“So I played with a lot of strong characters in the dressing room and you all have to find a way to stay together, which isn’t as easy as it sounds all the time.

“You have to think about the characters and find the right mix, it’s all down to the manager.” 

Q: You lost to Golden Goal in the final of Euro 2000, are you a fan of that rule?

MA: “I remember the Golden Goal at Euro 2000, David Trezeguet. But I’ll tell you something, I thought that rule was fair, it was like playing next goal wins as a kid.

“If things go to penalties, I don’t think that’s fair. If I could change the rules, I would go back to Golden Goal tomorrow.”

Q: What is your prediction for Italy vs Albania?

MA: “It's not going to be easy for Italy against Albania because their coach Sylvinho has lots of players that play domestic football in Italy. But we need the three points.

“Spalletti is trying something new and winning the first game is going to be crucial to that. I don’t think there will be many goals so I’m going for 1-0.”

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Q: What is your prediction for Italy vs Spain?

MA: “This fixture is always tough, not only for Italy, but for Spain also. It's tough playing against Italy. I don't know, maybe it depends even on the result of the first game. 

“If all goes to plan, I think it will be a 1-1 draw.”

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Q: What is your prediction for Italy vs Croatia?

MA: “Playing against Croatia in the last game is always very, very dangerous.

“Playing against Croatia in a single game with pressure on it is always going to be very very dangerous. So I’ll say another draw. 1-1.”

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Q: What can you tell us about Luciano Spalletti?

MA: “You would have seen what Luciano Spalletti did with Napoli last year and it was one of the most incredible teams I have seen in two decades, the way they play. 

“Luciano is a very good manager but in only 20 days he has to get his team playing consistently fluid football, that’s a bit different to Roberto Mancini.

“Players move around the field with no fixed position, but everybody wants to move to find the right space. I hope that the players understand very quickly what he wants.”

Q: What will Italy fans bring to Euro 2024?

MA: “Italy fans will of course bring passion. The support for the national team and the passion is only growing.

“There are going to be a lot of Italy shirts around Germany this summer.”

Massimo Ambrosini Profile

Massimo Ambrosini June 2024 interview

Speaking exclusively to OLBG, AC Milan icon Massimo Ambrosini has explained why Italy star Riccardo Calafiori would be perfect for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

The former Italy international has also explained why Nicolo Barella has what it takes to become a Premier League star and discussed how his team-mates recovered from Istanbul heartbreak.

Ambrosini has also revealed for the first time how he met Sam Allardyce in London over a potential transfer to West Ham before they missed the chance to sign him by a matter of hours.

Q: Who will be the next Italian star in the Premier League?

MA: “Riccardo Calafiori, from Bologna. He has had an incredible season. For me, he has everything to play at the top level and be in top Premier League squads in the future.

“He can play at centre-back, at left-back and under Thiago Motta in Bologna he started to move into midfield and even play like a striker, he has everything.

“He loves playing with the ball, Bologna were one of the first or second teams in the Italian league for possession so I think Arsenal would be perfect for him. 

“He could play in the middle or on the left, maybe in Oleksandr Zinchenko’s role. It would be perfect for him.”

Q: Who would Nicolo Barella suit in the Premier League?

MA: “Nicolo Barella has decided to sign a new contract with Inter but he has everything to play in the Premier League. In the final few days of the last summer transfer window Manchester City made an amazing proposal but it was too late for Inter to consider it and maybe get a replacement.

“I would have been very curious to see him with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he has everything to play with in the Premier League.”

Q: Should Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been in the England squad?

MA: “This season, Fikayo Tomori made too many mistakes. The year that Milan won Serie A, he was amazing. But right now, this last year, he had a bad injury and his performances were not the same.

“Ruben Loftus-Cheek has everything as a top player, but we need to see him playing at that level in every match and not once in every three.

“He has everything, but he doesn’t show his quality enough, that is his problem. Maybe that is why Chelsea let him go.”

Q: Could Pep Guardiola head to Italy after leaving Manchester City?

MA: “I think everybody in Italy would like to see Pep Guardiola arrive. Here, like in England, he is considered as one of the best managers of all time.

“When I hear him talk about Manchester City, you can hear his love for the club. It’s the same when you hear Carlo Ancelotti talk about Real Madrid. So it’s not going to be easy for Guardiola to leave City. I played with the same club for 17 years so I know the feeling.

“But if Guardiola wants something different, Italy is the best place for him.”

Q: What makes Carlo Ancelotti one of the best managers of all time?

MA: “There are two reasons why Carlo Ancelotti is one of the best managers of all time. The first one is the way he talks to players and gets them to give 100% in every game. He also lets the top players play with freedom on the pitch.

“He’s very good with instructions but when he gets top players like Vinicius Jr, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko, he knows that they have to play how they feel in each moment.

“In recent years he has also had his son at his side, who gives him new ideas and that has created a special mix of success for him. Those are his two secrets.”

Q: How did AC Milan recover from losing to Liverpool in Istanbul?

MA: “After losing that final to Liverpool in Istanbul, only a strong group could have survived. As you can imagine, everybody was totally destroyed.

“I didn't play, so after the game, I had to think the new season had started the day after, but some of my team-mates needed to take a rest before understanding that life went on and that they had to go again.

“In one sense we were lucky because we had the opportunity to play against Liverpool two years later in the Champions League final to get revenge.

“It's not something that happens often in football. So in a certain way I like to think we were lucky.”

Q: How close did you come to moving to the Premier League during your career?

MA: “I was very close to signing for West Ham, but it was a time issue. 

“Nobody knows this, but I went to London to speak with Sam Allardyce, but after that the club took 10 days to come to their decision.

“During that time Fiorentina called me because I had left Milan. On the day I signed for them I got a phone call from Sam Allardyce and I had to tell him I couldn’t sign for West Ham.

“I told him that if he had called me yesterday I would have picked West Ham over Fiorentina.

“I said I could have potentially joined the following year but I think they changed managers, then I spoke to Watford but decided it was time to end my career.”

Q: Who was the best English player you played against?

MA: “Paul Scholes is one of my favourite midfielders of all time.

“I have one of his shirts, I loved watching him play. He could do so much with the ball, he was an amazing, amazing player.”