Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini is disappointed with Italy at EURO 2024, but insists the Azzurri "never had Pelé, Messi and Maradona..."

In an interview with "Il Corriere dello Sport", the coach of Atalanta spoke about how he is building the team for the next season and the failure of Italy in the Euro 2024 European Championship, KosovaPress reports.

"I share the same opinion as many others. We lacked the team. Spalletti was unable to transmit certain principles and only he could know the reasons. Italy looked empty and that was the biggest disappointment. The Italian national team has always stood out for its stability and sense of belonging to the group. We have never had Pelé, Maradona, Cruijff or Messi, but we have never lacked excellent footballers", said Gasperini.

"Our Ballon d'Or winners are called Rivera, Rossi and Baggio. In 2006, a defender won it, Cannavaro. In that team that won the World Cup were Iaquinta, Camoranesi, Gilardino, Oddo, Grosso and Perrotta. We Italians like to start all over again when there is a disappointment. On the contrary, we should learn a lesson and start from the youth sectors. 80% of young Italians play football and if we fail to develop them and bring them to the first team, the system is wrong," Gasperini continued.