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Leonardo Bonucci's Evolution as a Leader Key for Italy in Euro 2016

In football—a sport that often marks time in four-year World Cup cycles—it's especially long. A lot of things can change in that period. Teams can rise and fall. Players develop, get hurt, regress, succeed or are ruined. Everything can change in six years.

No one exemplifies that better than Juventus and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci.

Six seasons ago, Bonucci could not have been at a lower point. Now he's at the top of his profession—and his evolution could provide be key to how successful his country is at the UEFA European Championship.

If one were to write an article about things Juventus would like to forget about Bonucci, one of the biggest entries on the list would be that he started his career at archrivals Inter Milan.