Mazzola said: "I am a big admirer of Barry Ferguson. He is the man who makes Scotland play. Everything goes through him and he is also a very good motivator for the players around him. Italy need to stop him. Scotland have been terrific in this campaign, but I am not surprised because their football has got better. A lot of that is down to tactics, which is due to the manager.

"They are far better than they were four or five years ago. In the past, Scotland could beat any team in the world at Hampden, but they struggled away from home. But they went to Paris and beat France and that wasn't luck - it was down to the excellent tactical sense of their manager."