Chile have become draw specialists as they look to kick-start their Copa America campaign against Bolivia in Cuiaba on Friday.

La Roja recorded their third consecutive 1-1 draw after Eduardo Vargas' equaliser cancelled out Lionel Messi's superb free-kick against Argentina on Monday.

Copa America champions in 2015 and 2016, Chile have struggled for form since the 2019 tournament, winning just three games (L5, 6D).

Encouragingly for Chile, they have dominated Bolivia in the Copa America amid a run of five wins and a draw in CONMEBOL's showpiece event.

"We must improve the possession of the ball and do it more calmly, not be so direct in some parts of the game because that causes us a lot of wear and tear," Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo said following the draw with Argentina, which included six players that featured in the 2015 Copa triumph over La Albiceleste.

"Without possession of the ball we are a very uncomfortable team and we have to continue to maintain that and continue to be aggressive."

Chile head coach Martin Lasarte, who took charge in February, added: "This team didn't want to be beaten, even though they didn't play well. These players are defiant."

Bolivia's Group A campaign got off to a disappointing start – beaten 3-1 by Paraguay on Monday.

Already missing captain and talisman Marcelo Martins due to coronavirus, Bolivia had teenage debutant Jaume Cuellar sent off while leading as Paraguay capitalised on their numerical advantage in the second half.

Bolivia – the 1963 champions who have not progressed from the group stage since 2015 – are set to be without Marcelo again in a situation the country's all-time leading goalscorer is unhappy with.

Marcelo used social media to hit out at CONMEBOL, which relocated the Copa to Brazil from Argentina and Colombia, despite the country being one of the worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

"Thanks to you at CONMEBOL for this," Marcelo said in an Instagram post that was later deleted. "It's all your fault. If one person dies, what are you going to do? What matters to you is only money. Is the player's life worth nothing?"

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chile – Eduardo Vargas

With Alexis Sanchez sidelined for the entire group stage, Vargas is carrying the load up front.

Only Sanchez (46) has scored more international goals for Chile than forward Vargas (39).

Vargas' equaliser against Argentina saw him move level with Gabriel Batistuta in the list of the most goals in Copa history. The 31-year-old is only four goals away from matching record holders Zizinho and Tucho Mendez (17).

Bolivia – Ruben Cordano

The unheralded 22-year-old goalkeeper was on the receiving end of three goals last time out, but he still impressed.

No goalkeeper made more saves than Cordano in the opening round of Copa games – eight, double that of Bravo and Venezuela's Joel Graterol in the top three.

KEY OPTA FACTS

- Chile are unbeaten in five games against Bolivia at the Copa America (W4 D1), including a 2-1 victory for La Roja in the last meeting during the 2016 edition. The two nations are playing for the third time in Brazil, winning one game apiece.
- Chile have lost just one of their 13 games versus Bolivia in all competitions (W9 D3). However, they are winless in the last two meetings with Bolivia (L1 D1), their worst winless run in this process.
- Bolivia have scored in six of their previous eight games played in the Copa America. However, they failed to keep a clean sheet in those matches (L8).

Gennaro Gattuso has left as head coach of Fiorentina just 23 days after being appointed.

The Serie A club confirmed on Thursday that the former Napoli boss had stepped down by mutual consent.

"The company immediately set to work to identify a technical choice that will guide the Viola team towards the results that Fiorentina and the city of Florence deserve," they said.

Gattuso, who took the Fiorentina job just two days after leaving Napoli, is reported to have had disagreements over the club's transfer plans.

His agent, Jorge Mendes, is said to have proposed signings such as Porto's Sergio Oliveira and Goncalo Guedes of Valencia, but Fiorentina's management wanted to explore more affordable options.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, former Lyon boss Rudi Garcia, ex-Leicester City coach Claudio Ranieri and Walter Mazzarri, most recently at Torino, are candidates to succeed Gattuso.

Fiorentina finished 13th last season, with just nine victories from 38 league games.

Harry Maguire has declared himself fit to play in the Euro 2020 clash between England and Scotland at Wembley on Friday.

The Manchester United captain has been sidelined since suffering ankle ligament damage on May 9 in the Red Devils' 3-1 Premier League win at Aston Villa.

Maguire was hurt after falling awkwardly beneath Anwar El Ghazi. He sat out United's final five games of the season, including the Europa League final, which ended in defeat on penalties to Villarreal.

The centre-back was not ready to feature in England's warm-up games with Austria and Lithuania or the 1-0 win over Croatia last Sunday, in which Tyrone Mings partnered John Stones at the heart of Gareth Southgate's defence.

Speaking on Wednesday, Maguire said: "I feel good. I'm back available, I've been training and I'm looking forward to it. I've done a few sessions now and I feel like my fitness is there."

Confirming he was "available to the manager for selection," for the Scotland game, Maguire added: "I'm here as a player but also as a fan so I fully understand my position in the camp. Whatever happens, I want England to win – that's my main focus."

Maguire felt buoyed by Southgate's decision to include him in England's 26-man squad despite knowing he would miss at least the opening group game with Croatia.

"Gareth has shown great faith in me and that's not just in this camp, it's since I made my debut," he said. "I know Gareth trusts me and it gives me great confidence to come here and try and do as much as I can for him and, most importantly, for the country.

"I knew it was a pretty serious injury because it didn't come from impact or contact. I knew it was a twist straight away so there would be some sort of ligament damage in there. Obviously, you fear the worst but I'm here now and ready to go.

"I haven't had an ankle injury before but, from speaking to players and physios, I'm sure it will be niggling. As long as it's stable and the pain is bearable then I'm sure I'll be fine."

SOUTHGATE'S ROCK

Maguire played in all eight of England's games for Euro 2020 qualifying, more than any other defender, helping the Three Lions to keep five clean sheets in those matches.

The former Leicester City man averaged 2.75 successful aerials and 1.6 interceptions per 90 minutes, the most among defenders.

He also completed by far the most passes (672) and most long passes (38) in those eight matches, as England finished top of Group A with seven wins from eight games.

In total, England have won 62.5 per cent of the 32 senior games Maguire has played, keeping 16 clean sheets and conceding 23 goals.

Christian Eriksen is to be fitted with an implant to help to regulate his heart rhythm after suffering cardiac arrest during Denmark's Euro 2020 match with Finland.

The midfielder was given CPR on the pitch during the first half of the match in Copenhagen last week before being taken to hospital, where he is stable.

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said on Monday that Eriksen was "smiling and laughing", while the Inter player himself thanked fans for their messages of support as he underwent tests.

On Thursday, the Danish Football Association confirmed specialists had recommended he be fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that uses electrical pulses to regulate potentially dangerous heart rhythms.

A tweet from the FA's official account said: "National team doctor Morten Boesen has been in contact with the cardiac specialist at Rigshospitalet and Christian Eriksen and this is the latest status.

"After Christian has been through different heart examinations it has been decided that he should have an ICD (heart starter). This device is necessary after a cardiac attack due to rhythm disturbances.

"Christian has accepted the solution and the plan has moreover been confirmed by specialists nationally and internationally who all recommend the same treatment.

"We encourage everybody to give Christian and his family peace and privacy."

Professor Sanjar Sharma, an expert in sports cardiology, explained to Stats Perform the nature of the implant and the discussions Eriksen is likely to have over whether he will be able to continue his career.

"The question is, the aim is, this must never happen again," he said. "To do this, they will probably be considering putting in something called an implantable defibrillator, which is a small device that lives under the collar bone with a lead in the vicinity of the heart. That lead monitors the cardiac rhythm day and night and should the heart go into a very dangerous rhythm called ventricular tachycardia, this lead detects it at the shock box and delivers a shock to restore a normal rhythm. That would be their main goal.

"Of course, their main goal would be to ensure he has another fifty or sixty years, which is what he should have at his age. Clearly, there will be discussions about where he goes from now as far as his career goes. And that will be determined from what they find.

"If they find something that is incurable such as a scar, if you have a lot of scarring, you can't get rid of that, that's there permanently. Or let's say that they don't find anything and his cardiac arrest remains an enigma, something clearly happened, we just haven't been able to identify [it], it may be [it] happened in the spur of the moment, we haven't found what caused it. In that particular situation, it's very unreliable so you would have to tell him, this happened already once and it could happen again. The outcome may not be the same.

"You'll probably find the medical fraternity would now be advising him, I would say probably not to compete. But in the United Kingdom certainly, we really do respect the autonomy of the athlete. The athlete has a massive say in their career. It's not just that the doctor says 'you will not train again or compete again', the athlete gets involved.

"There will be a meeting certainly with the athlete, next of kin, and a club representative, talking about the possible scenarios, and then it may depend also on what Christian feels about his ongoing career, how his wife feels, how he feels about clearly bringing up the two children with this unpredictable risk. Lots of factors will come into this."

Christian Arroyo's seventh-inning grand slam lifted the Boston Red Sox past the Atlanta Braves for a 10-8 victory Wednesday. 

The Red Sox (42-27) continued to gain ground on the first-place Tampa Bay Rays while digging an even deeper hole for the Braves (30-35), who are now tied with the Washington Nationals for third place in the National League (NL) East. 

Boston took an early lead and built a 6-3 edge by the fifth inning before home runs by Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman put Atlanta on top 7-6. 

But Atlanta's veteran reliever Shane Greene loaded the bases in the seventh before giving way to A.J. Minter with two outs, then watched as Minter surrendered Arroyo's 467-foot blast to left-center field. 

Altuve keeps going deep for Houston

Jose Altuve's home run swing carried over from Tuesday to Wednesday, as he opened the bottom of the first inning with a home run and added another in the eighth to lead an 8-4 Houston Astros win over the Texas Rangers. According to Stats Perform, Altuve is the first player in MLB history to hit a walk-off grand slam in one game and a leadoff home run in his team's next game. 

Charlie Blackmon's ninth-inning single scored Trevor Story to give the Colorado Rockies an 8-7 win and a three-game sweep over the slumping San Diego Padres. 

The St Louis Cardinals also walked off for a sweep as Yadier Molina's single down the left-field line in the ninth inning scored Paul Goldschmidt for a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. 

More injury worries for deGrom

The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 but will anxiously await word on the status of star pitcher Jacob deGrom, who left the game with right shoulder soreness after striking out eight of the nine batters he faced in an abbreviated three-inning start. 

Another road game, another road loss for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who allowed five home runs in a 13-7 defeat against the San Francisco Giants. Arizona's 22nd consecutive loss away from home tied the 1963 Mets and 1943 Philadelphia Athletics for the most in modern MLB history. 

The Baltimore Orioles are right on Arizona's tail, as their 8-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians gave them 18 straight defeats away from Camden Yards. 

Baez makes it look easy

Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez showed his Gold Glove form with a beautiful, sliding scoop-and-throw on a bouncer up the middle to get Mets catcher Tomas Nito at first. 

Wednesday's results

New York Mets 6-3 Chicago Cubs
Washington Nationals 3-1 Pittsburgh Pirates
New York Yankees 3-2 Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians 8-7 Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox 10-8 Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds 2-1 Milwaukee Brewers
Detroit Tigers 6-5 Kansas City Royals
Chicago White Sox 8-7 Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros 8-4 Texas Rangers
St Louis Cardinals 1-0 Miami Marlins
Colorado Rockies 8-7 San Diego Padres
Oakland Athletics 8-4 Los Angeles Angels
San Francisco Giants 13-7 Arizona Diamondbacks
Minnesota Twins 7-2 Seattle Mariners
Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 Los Angeles Dodgers

Reds at Padres

Two teams headed in opposite directions square off in San Diego as the Padres (38-32), losers of nine of their last 11 games, host the Cincinnati Reds (35-31), who have won six in a row and 11 of 13. 

The Los Angeles Clippers absorbed the best shot the Utah Jazz could give them and prevailed in what Paul George called their biggest game of the season, winning 119-111 Wednesday to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference semi-final series. 

Hours after learning star forward Kawhi Leonard was out indefinitely with a knee injury, the Clippers turned to George to lead the way on the road against top-seeded Utah. 

George did everything he could, posting 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists to put Los Angeles one win away from advancing to the conference finals. 

"He's incredible. He's special. Paul's special," said Clippers guard Reggie Jackson.

"The way that he just handled himself, he seemed calm. Tough news to receive [about Leonard] but he seemed calm. He was ready to put the team on his back and carry extra weight."

George did not try and diminish the significance of the win afterward. 

"I thought this was our toughest matchup this postseason, this was the biggest game of our season, especially being down our best player," he told TNT afterward. 

"We wish Kawhi the best and a speedy recovery, but we knew coming into this we had to play together, we had to step up, but we didn't have to [overdo] it.

"I thought everybody played their roles, we did a great job, we played collectively. We limited our turnovers, and I thought that's what was the key tonight."

Los Angeles gave the ball away only 10 times, but just as positive for them was watching the Jazz come up one short of an NBA playoff record with 17 made three-pointers in the first half but only lead by five going into the break. 

"I thought a lot of their threes were tough ones," said George. "We didn't overreact. They came out hot. The good thing about it was we were able to weather the storm.

"We came down and we attacked them on offence as well. We just took their blows, we took their punches -- we just thought they couldn't sustain that over a full 48 minutes."

They could not, whether through the Clippers' defensive efforts or a lack of focus on both ends of the court. 

"I didn't feel like the sense of urgency was there defensively at the beginning of the game," said Jazz big man Rudy Gobert, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. 

Whatever the reason, the Clippers now control their own destiny in the series, even without having Leonard available for the immediate future. 

"We've been talking about it all year," said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. "We're not going to point the finger. We're not going to blame anyone.

"When things get tough, we come together. That's the kind of culture I wanted to establish here."

After trailing nearly the entire game, the Atlanta Hawks completed a staggering comeback to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 109-106 and take a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. 

Hawks star Trae Young led all scorers with 39 points and added seven assists, making 17 of 19 from the free-throw line to offset a 10-of-23 showing from the field. 

Though Atlanta trailed by 22 with one minute remaining in the third quarter, the Hawks shot their way back into the game as just about every 76ers player but Seth Curry went cold in the final quarter. 

Philadelphia still led by 10 after Ben Simmons made a pair of free throws with 4:23 to play, but the 76ers made only one shot the rest of the game -- a meaningless jumper from Curry just before the buzzer. 

In between, they came up empty on all six attempts from the field and Simmons and Joel Embiid missed two free throws each. 

Embiid finished with 37 points and 13 rebounds, while Curry scored 36 as they were the only two 76ers to score from the field in the second half.

According to Stats Perform, this is the first time in the last 15 postseasons two players have made all of their team's baskets in one half. 

A second-half rally was also on the cards in Salt Lake City as the Los Angeles Clippers withstood an early onslaught of three-pointers from the Utah Jazz and returned home with a 119-111 victory and a 3-2 series lead. 

Bojan Bogdanovic made six three-pointers in the opening quarter and Utah had 17 threes in the first half, one shy of the NBA record for the most in any half of a playoff game, to give the Jazz a 65-60 advantage at the break. 

But the Clippers, playing without the injured Kawhi Leonard, out-scored the Jazz 32-18 in the third quarter and held on for the win as Paul George scored 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. 

Marcus Morris added 25 points and Reggie Jackson 22 for the Clippers, who can close out the series at home on Friday. 

Bogdanovic finished with 32 points and Donovan Mitchell 21 for Utah, though Mitchell made only six of 19 shots from the field.

Utah made just three of 24 three-pointers in the second half. 

Nets at Bucks

The Brooklyn Nets will look to close out their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the Milwaukee Bucks as they take a 3-2 lead into Game 6.

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has been voted NBA Rookie of the Year.

The 19-year-old seemed to have locked up the honour early with a stellar first three months in his maiden campaign, but a mid-season injury added some suspense. 

As Ball missed five weeks in March and April with a fractured list, top draft pick Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves began to heat up. 

But Ball's overall body of work prevailed, as he received 84 first-place votes and 465 overall points from the selection panel. 

Edwards was second with 15 first-place votes and 309 points, while Tyrese Haliburton of the Sacramento Kings came third with 114 points. 

Ball averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 28.8 minutes across 51 games. 

His signature performance may have come on January 9, when he had 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against the Atlanta Hawks to become the youngest NBA player to record a triple-double. 

Edwards finished with averages of 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 72 games. 

Two more NBA teams are looking for a head coach after the New Orleans Pelicans parted ways with Stan Van Gundy and the Washington Wizards said they would not renew Scott Brooks' contract. 

That brings the total to six openings around the league, as the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic and Portland Trail Blazers also are in the midst of the search process. 

Brooks' best team during five years in Washington was his first, the 2016-17 side that went 49-33 in the regular season before falling to Boston in a seven-game Eastern Conference semi-finals series. 

Washington were not able to build on their young backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, as Wall missed significant time with injury the next few years before moving on to the Houston Rockets. 

Brooks went 183-207 (.469) in his five years with the Wizards, who missed the playoffs the last two seasons before bowing out in the first round against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers this year. 

"We have been committed to taking the proper steps over the last two seasons to develop our young players, bring in pieces to complement Bradley Beal and build a winning environment that will ultimately lead to sustained on-court success," said Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard.

"Our organization will always be grateful to Scott for his dedication and work both on the court and in the community over the past five years and I personally admire and respect how he helped keep our team together during the unprecedented events of the last 15 months."

The long-time NBA fixture Van Gundy got only one season with Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and the Pelicans, going 31-41 and missing the playoffs. 

The former Magic, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons boss could not find a winning formula with a mostly young group in New Orleans, though injuries that kept Ball and Williamson out for extended periods did not help. 

Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin thanked Van Gundy for his "integrity and professionalism" in a statement announcing the move. 

"This was a difficult decision as I have tremendous respect for Stan both personally and professionally, but we agreed it is in the best interest of our team to move forward in a different direction," Griffin said. 

Brazil head into Thursday's Copa America clash with Peru with history firmly on their side.

Having taken on hosting duties at the last minute, Brazil started their Copa campaign with a win over Venezuela last time out.

Their second Group B game sees Tite's side take on Peru, who they beat 3-1 in Rio de Janeiro to clinch the trophy back in 2019.

While the Estadio de Maracana hosted the showdown on that occasion, Rio's less illustrious venue – Estadio Nilton Santos – is the location of this meeting, with Brazil boasting a record of seven wins, two draws and just one defeat from their last 10 matches against Peru.

Brazil are on a seven-match unbeaten run in the Copa America, with all of those games having been played on home soil across the last two editions of the competition.

Indeed, their last defeat in the tournament came against Peru back in 2016, though Brazil should be confident of maintaining their winning start.

Peru have only won one of their last nine games in total, though that did come in their prior match against Ecuador – the last team they had previously beaten were Brazil in a friendly in September 2019.

In his pre-match news conference, Brazil coach Tite confirmed there will be at least one change, with Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson coming in for Alisson.

"There are three goalkeepers of very high levels. Two are among the best in the world," said Tite. 

"Weverton has been doing a very high level of work in the Libertadores. We are working, doing the analysis together and in this game we decided for Ederson."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brazil – Neymar

If Brazil are going to defend their crown, they want their poster boy to be on top form. Neymar started well, scoring a penalty and setting up Gabigol's effort in the 3-0 win over Venezuela. He has also completed the most dribbles (six) of any player so far in the competition.

Peru – Gianluca Lapadula

Lapadula seems likely to lead Peru's line in Rio and comes into the game on the back of an impressive performance against Ecuador, in which he created both of the goals for Ricardo Gareca's team.

KEY OPTA FACTS

- Peru are the last team that beat Brazil as a visitor in the Copa America – the Incas beat them 3-1 in the 1975 semi-final.
- Since then, Brazil have gone 21 games without a loss at home (13 wins, eight draws).
- Casemiro was the player who recovered the most balls on the first day of the Copa America (15, three more than Juan Cuadrado, his nearest challenger).
- Gareca will lead Peru for a fourth time in the Copa America – he is the coach with the most matches in charge of the national team in the competition (16).
- Brazil had 61.7 per cent possession against Venezuela, registering a pass accuracy of 89.1 per cent (from 550 passes in total). They had 18 attempts compared to three, with seven hitting the target.

Roberto Mancini took over Italy's national team with the Azzurri at their lowest ebb. Absent from the 2018 World Cup after failing to qualify for the first time since 1958, Italy required a rebuild, with Mancini trusted to be the architect.

To use perhaps the most exhausted of cliches, Rome wasn't built in a day. But, at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday, Mancini saw his efforts in reconstructing this perennial power of international football bear fruit as Italy became the first team to book their place in the last 16 of Euro 2020.

Following a dazzling performance in the tournament's opening fixture that saw them sweep aside Turkey 3-0 last Friday, Italy were similarly superb here, making light work of Switzerland as Manuel Locatelli's double sealed a triumph by the same scoreline.

The contrast between the team that progressed to the knockouts in front of a delighted if relatively small and socially distanced home crowd and the one that was held to a 0-0 draw by Sweden in the second leg of the World Cup qualification play-off in 2017 is stark.

Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Jorginho and Ciro Immobile were all in the starting XI on that chastening night at San Siro and were picked by Mancini to help Italy past Vladimir Petkovic's side, though Chiellini had to withdraw through injury in the first half shortly after seeing what looked to be the opening goal chalked off by VAR for handball.

Yet there are key differences in both personnel and system. Whereas Gian Piero Ventura played a 3-5-2 with wingbacks Alessandro Florenzi and Matteo Darmian asked to provide both defensive protection and attacking creativity from wide areas with Immobile paired with the often immobile Manolo Gabbiadini, Mancini continues to get results from a much more expansive 4-3-3.

In that set-up on Wednesday, Immobile thrived playing in a front three alongside the energetic presences of Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi, taking a game-high four shots and becoming the first player to score in Italy's first two games at a major tournament since Christian Vieri at the 2002 World Cup as he rounded off an excellent display.

Behind that trio, Jorginho -- who had patrolled the middle of the park along with two players in their 30s in Marco Parolo and Antonio Candreva against Sweden -- had the 24-year-old Nicolo Barella and 23-year-old Locatelli for company in midfield.

And it was Sassuolo team-mates Berardi and Locatelli who shone brightest on this latest showcase of Italy's credentials as contenders for the title.

That duo have been pivotal to one of the most entertaining sides in Serie A, Berardi creating 58 chances for Sassuolo while Locatelli teed up 38.

Their understanding was there for all to see when Italy did open the scoring after Switzerland's earlier reprieve. Locatelli volleyed the ball out to the right to Berardi, who surged down the flank before pulling back for his club-mate, whose desire to charge into the box from inside his own half was rewarded with a tap-in.

Berardi has now been involved in five goals in his last six appearances for Italy, but it was Barella who teed Locatelli up for one of the fiercest strikes of the competition so far as he powered into the bottom-left corner to become Italy's third-youngest scorer of a brace at a major tournament behind Giacomo Bulgarelli (v Switzerland in 1962) and Mario Balotelli (v Germany in 2012).

Immobile added the finishing touches, with help from poor goalkeeping from Yann Sommer, as Italy made it 31 goals without reply in all competitions, a 10th successive clean sheet never threatened by an uninspiring Switzerland team.

Those two statistics illustrate just how drastic the turnaround has been under Mancini. Italy could not muster a goal over two legs against Sweden in 2017, now they attack with verve and incisiveness that suggests they could score each time they go forward.

With the old guard still as dependable as ever at the back, Italy have a solid spine and a crop of talented playmakers that have helped revitalise a team that looked to be a fading force in international football. Turkey and Switzerland have offered little in way of a challenge to Mancini's men, but that combination could be one that makes this delayed European Championship worth the wait for the Azzurri.