Bastoni scores again for Italy: I have never lost confidence in myself.

Thanks to Bastoni's crucial goal, Italy drew 1-1 with France in the third round of Group A of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League. Bastoni stated that he has never lost confidence in himself, while also emphasizing that the team cannot afford any complacency.

In the 55th minute of the second half, Laryan Sergiu took a free kick, and Olise, positioned at the edge of the penalty area, unleashed a long-range shot that found the back of the net, giving France a 1-0 lead. In the 68th minute, Dacuña made a mistake while receiving the ball, allowing Bastoni to gain possession and slot home a shot from inside the penalty area, leveling the score at 1-1 for Italy.

Ultimately, Italy managed a 1-1 draw against France away from home. It's worth noting that Bastoni also scored in the previous group stage match, helping Mancini's team defeat Turkey.

Inter Milan's Italian defender Bastoni said, "It was a tough game, we knew it would be difficult, that's no news, but I'm very happy with the team's overall performance. We gave it our all, endured hardship, and even disrupted some of France's plans because they were ready to celebrate. We knew it wouldn't be an easy game coming here, and it certainly was."

"I'm certainly happy to score again, but the first thing I thought of after scoring was that we had to make sure the team didn't concede another goal, otherwise all our previous efforts would have been in vain. This is a great result and it strengthens our confidence to keep going."

Bastoni continued, "I didn't expect to score two goals, but I never lost confidence in myself. I won't let one or two setbacks ruin my career built up over 300 games. I want to thank my family for always being there for me, and I hope that my upright posture will be seen as a positive attitude."

“From the start of the game we believed we could win, and we created a chance to break the deadlock in the first half. This sends a very positive signal, because if we can perform like this against France in Paris, then we are capable of doing so against any team in the future. We still have another game to play, and we will not relax at all, and this will be another important test.”

Furthermore, Italian striker Sebastiano stated, "If we can come here and take away a draw, it's definitely not a bad result. I know we are Italy, and we want to win every game; it's important to our history and heritage. We played well in this game, but we can do better; it just takes time."

“We are adapting to a new head coach and a lot of new players. Maybe we didn’t play well enough against Belgium, but we have been improving since then and trying to play to our own style, which is very important for us. We have enough strength and must continue to go down this path.”

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