'A complete midfielder': Locatelli does it all for Italy

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Italy's Manuel Locatelli celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Euro 2020 soccer championship group A match between Italy and Switzerland at the Olympic stadium in Rome, Italy, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)

ROME ā€“ An 18-year-old Manuel Locatelli announced himself to followers of Italian soccer by absolutely smashing a shot past Gianluigi Buffon to give AC Milan a 1-0 win over rival Juventus five years ago.

It was just the second shot on target of his Serie A career, having also scored with his first a few weeks earlier in a wild 4-3 win over Sassuolo.

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That breakout month of October 2016 heaped so many expectations onto Locatelli that he eventually struggled with the pressure of being labeled Italyā€™s next great player.

Well, he's not struggling anymore.

The multi-talented midfielder scored twice in a 3-0 win over Switzerland that made Italy the first team to secure a spot in the last 16 of the European Championship -- with a game to spare.

His first goal was an ideal example of modern soccer: Locatelliā€™s left-footed volley from his own half sent Sassuolo teammate Domenico Berardi streaking down the right flank, after which Locatelli charged forward and was set up by Berardiā€™s cross to score from close range with his right foot.

ā€œI knew that Domenico was out wide and I made a perfect impact with the ball with my left foot,ā€ Locatelli said after picking up the man of the match award. ā€œThe cross-field pass galvanized me and I surged into the area and was fortunate that Domenico gave me a great ball and I was able to score. It was really beautiful.ā€

His second was a long-range blast that left Switzerlandā€™s goalkeeper immobile.

ā€œThe first goal was a jewel, a play that began with a really high-quality technical effort, then finished with a perfect insertion. The second showed off one of the best parts of his repertoire ā€” his shooting,ā€ veteran coach Claudio Ranieri wrote in a Gazzetta dello Sport editorial Thursday.

The previous Italy player to score a brace at the European Championship was Mario Balotelli against Germany in the 2012 semifinals.

ā€œManuel is a complete midfielder and heā€™s acquired character over the years,ā€ Ranieri said.

Locatelli has openly acknowledged that one of the reasons Milan let him go to Sassuolo in 2018 was that he wasnā€™t ready to perform consistently with such a big club.

He is now. And thatā€™s one of the reasons why returning Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri reportedly wants the Bianconeri to spend 25 million euros ($30 million) for his rights.

The price might go up now, but the transfer talk doesnā€™t bother Locatelli.

ā€œWhen youā€™re playing in a big tournament like this your focus has to be exclusively on that,ā€ he said. ā€œThis is a competition that every kid dreams about playing in. Itā€™s actually easy to stay focused on this tournament.ā€

Locatelli gained his spot in the starting lineup for Italyā€™s opening two matches because of an injury to Marco Verratti, who is expected back for the next group game against Wales.

Having also overwhelmed Turkey 3-0 in the tournament opener, the Azzurri need only a draw against Wales to win Group A, but they clearly wonā€™t settle for just one point.

Italy has won 10 straight matches by scoring 30 unanswered goals over nearly 1,000 minutes of play.

Coach Roberto Mancini has worked wonders for a team that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

ā€œWe always want to attack with a lot of players, and often with the midfielders, which sometimes brings risks,ā€ Mancini said.

The Azzurri are on a 29-match unbeaten run.

ā€œItaly again showed what we saw against Turkey: dribbling, pressing, running, continuity. Itā€™s a national team that plays like a club and that really highlights the work that Roberto Mancini is doing,ā€ Ranieri said. ā€œIt seems like a perfect orchestra to this point.ā€

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf


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