Roberto Mancini has asked the San Siro crowd to stop jeering Gianluigi Donnarumma when Italy face France tonight, saying he does not think Man City’s goalkeeper deserves the whistles that have followed him around Milan for years.
Donnarumma has never been able to play at San Siro without being booed since he walked away from Milan as a free agent, and that has not changed with his move from Paris Saint-Germain to City.
Mancini used his pre-match press conference at Coverciano on Wednesday to stand up for his captain, a day after Donnarumma was handed an award for a very different reason.
What did Mancini say about the San Siro jeers?
Asked whether he hoped the whistling would stop, the Italy coach said: “I hope so. Gigio is a great goalkeeper, as well as an extraordinary young man. Aside from what happened years ago, I don’t think he deserves to be jeered. One would hope fans go to the stadium to cheer on the team, and in turn we hope to give them something to cheer about.”
He also made it clear how much Donnarumma matters to this Italy side. Looking back at the 1-1 draw in Paris on 2 October, the only time Zinedine Zidane’s France have dropped points in the group, Mancini said: “It was a difficult match in certain moments, France kept us pinned back and in the second half Gigio rescued us, but tomorrow’s game will be different.”
Why was Donnarumma given an award?
On Tuesday, Donnarumma received the ‘Building Kindness in Sport’ award at Coverciano. He was chosen after asking the guests at his wedding last summer to donate to young patients at a hospital in Naples instead of buying gifts for him and his wife.
The award, set up in 2022, was inspired by another Italian goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, who took a family fleeing the war in Ukraine into his home. Donnarumma was given an ambassador’s shirt designed by children, with a Nelson Mandela line about sport’s power to change the world printed on the back.
Italy vs France: what is at stake?
Plenty. France top Nations League Group A1 with 10 points, Italy are second on seven and Belgium third on six, and only the top two reach the quarter-finals in March. A win tonight would lift Italy above France, before they finish the group in Brussels on Sunday.
Kick-off at San Siro is 7.45pm UK time (1.15am IST on Friday). France are without Kylian Mbappé, who has a hamstring injury, while Mancini’s young side are expected to start Pio Esposito, Sandro Tonali, Riccardo Calafiori and Michael Kayode.
Donnarumma needs a big night for City’s sake too
This could not come at a better time for him. At club level the last few weeks have been hard, with costly errors against PSG, Aston Villa and RB Leipzig, and former City captain Steph Houghton has already argued that Enzo Maresca’s constant changes at the back are not helping him.
Maresca still calls it “Gigio plus 10”, and Donnarumma remains one of City’s captains with no sign of Geronimo Rulli taking his place. But the shot-stopping that made him such a big signing has not been at its best lately. A clean sheet against France, in front of a crowd that has never forgiven him, would be the perfect way to answer both sets of critics. We previewed his meeting with his French City team-mate in our guide to City’s internationals this break.
