WHILE the UK was divided about The National’s mock up of Italian manager Roberto Mancini as Braveheart, the Italians loved it.
It was featured in media outlets across Italy, from Sky to Vanity Fair, and we’re still getting messages asking for copies to be sent out to the Mediterranean nation.
One person we won’t need to send out a copy though is Mancini himself. He already has his.
As the video of the team’s victory celebrations shows, the Azzurri manager had his copy of The National in the seat next to him on the plane, given pride of place next to the Euro championship trophy.
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One mystery though is how he got it.
The National is only sold in Scotland - and the Italian team didn’t play any of their Euro matches here.
READ MORE: WATCH: Italy's victory over England sparks wild celebrations in Scotland
Gli Azzurri played in Rome, Munich, and then London for both the semi-finals and final. Which means someone in Scotland must have sent the manager a copy.
We called the Italian consulate in Edinburgh - and they said they were happy for us, but they “do not investigate this kind of thing”. That’s fair enough. At least we know it wasn’t them!
We’ve also put in a request with the Italian football association (the FIGC) to see if we can contact Mancini or if anyone there can help us find out where he got it. But we’ve yet to hear back.
And there we’ve hit a bit of a dead end.
Can you help us track down whoever it was that sent Mancini his copy? We’d love to learn more.
Comment below, on social media, or send us any information you can to reporters@thenational.scot - thank you!
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