Italy started Euro 2020 in the best way imaginable by beating Turkey with a 3-0 on Friday night, with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli and a Merih Demiral own goal seeing the Azzurri past their opponents.
It was the first time the Azzuris were scoring three goals in a European championship game but then the team Roberto Mancini has assembled has some very interesting facts.
Players who starred on Friday night are not from the big four, Milan, Inter,Juve or Roma, but Sassuolo.
Stars of the night Domenico Beradi and Manuel Locatelli impressed on the night the Italians toyed around with the Turks and this has made football pundits wanting to see more from the new heroes.
Sassuolo are a club who play their games in Reggio Emilia - known as the 'citta del tricolore' for being where the Italian flag was drawn up in 1797 - and are one that too few outside of the country have even heard of. They are from, however, and carry the name of an even smaller town in Emilia-Romagna of just 40,000 people.
Berardi was heavily involved in the first half, although not everything he tried to do came off. Much like Lorenzo Insigne, he frustrated on occasion as a deep and compact Turkey defence limited his options. In the second, though, he shone.
It was Berardi who forced the opening goal, wrong-footing a defender with some nice footwork before smashing across goal and leaving former Sassuolo teammate Merih Demiral helplessly turning into his own goal.
He then provided the pass for Leonardo Spinazzola's shot, which Immobile scored on the rebound of, and he intercepted a poor Turkish pass to play the pass before the assist on Insigne's goal as well. Just as he has been for the Neroverdi, Berardi was key for the Azzurri.
In midfield, Locatelli was one of three perfect Italian midfielders. Jorginho, Nicolo Barella and he barely put a foot wrong or a pass out of place from the first to the last minute, and he staked a claim for his place in the starting XI in Marco Verratti's absence.
Young forward Giacomo Raspadori also from Sassuolo was Mancini's most surprising inclusion in his squad for the tournament, and he could yet feature as the group continues to play out.