Spalletti was already on the pitch when they assembled.
The players found him standing by the centre circle, watching the last few arrive before giving a small nod to the staff beside him.
He waited until the last player had come through and then looked at all of them.
"Italian football," Spalletti began, looking around the group, "has always known who it is. Somewhere along the way, we forgot."
"When people outside Italy think about us, they think about defending. They think about catenaccio. They think about great defenders. Franco Baresi. Paolo Maldini. Fabio Cannavaro. They think about winning 1-0 and making it feel impossible for the other team to breathe."
Watching the players almost roll their eyes at his monologue, he couldn't help but smile wryly since what he was saying was something they'd been taught since the start of their careers in the youth system.
