Spalletti ruined his debut with the Italian team. The team runs the risk of missing the Euro Cup
Kirill Zakatchenko September 10, 2023, 00:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Two years ago, North Macedonia left the Italians without the 2022 World Cup, and now at the end they punished their rival again.
The Italian team played the first match of September qualifying for Euro 2024. And they met with a well-known opponent.
The Italian team played a match without Roberto Mancini for the first time in a long time. This coach’s five-year stay with the national team proved controversial. On the one hand, the team won gold medals at Euro 2020. On the other hand, they missed the World Cup. In March 2022, the Italians sensationally lost to North Macedonia (0-1) and for the second time in a row did not qualify for the World Championship. A year and a half later, the teams met again, but this time in Skopje.
Italy got there under the leadership of Luciano Spalletti. Mancini left his position and supported the trend of summer 2023: he went to Saudi Arabia. It is true that he did not manage one of the clubs, but the local team. Spalletti, in turn, achieved historic success last season: Napoli, under his leadership, became Italian champions for the first time in 33 years. In the summer, Luciano left the club because he needed a sabbatical. But after only a couple of months he became the head of the national team.
What problems did Spalletti have before being called up to the national team:
Will Spalletti be the coach of the Italian team? He stops him from a clause in the agreement with Napoli
It must be said that Italy has a rather difficult qualifying group. Yes, there is a weak Malta team, but all the other teams (England, Ukraine, North Macedonia) competed in the previous European Championship. The Italians got three points after two games. The Macedonians had the same number, but after three games.
Watching the first half of the match in Skopje, one can capture memories of the 2022 World Cup play-off match. Then the Italians had an overwhelming advantage, created many chances, but failed in the end. Again there were many chances: Sandro Tonali hit the post, Gianluca Mancini’s header missed the far corner and Federico Dimarco made an awkward pass instead of shooting. It is true that the home team could have also scored, but Bojan Miovski forgave the opponent after a counterattack.
Italy’s first goal in the Spalletti era was scored by Ciro Immobile. The Lazio forward only had to miss the almost empty goal after the rebound hit the crossbar. Only two minutes have passed since the start of the second half. By the way, Immobile entered the field with the captain’s armband and celebrated his first game in his new role with an important goal.
Ciro Immobile celebrates a goal
Photo: Claudio Villa/Getty Images
After the goal, the Italians slowed down drastically and the number of opportunities decreased. In the end, Spalletti’s team again and again could not keep up with the rival, which led to an increase in the number of violations. One of them caused big problems. North Macedonia captain Enis Bardi took a magnificent free kick and Gianluigi Donnarumma sent the ball into the goalkeeper’s corner. The Macedonians again ruined the life of their opponent.
Thus, Italy scored only four points in three days. The team currently occupies third place in the group. It will be extremely difficult to catch up with England (13 points), and the Italians are three points behind Ukraine. On September 12, the Italians will face Sergei Rebrov’s team. And now they simply have to play to win.
