Tag Archives: Italy

EURO 2024: Italy manager Spalletti explains why his team lost to Switzerland

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Luciano Spalletti again tried to insist the biggest problem for Italy was the lack of ‘tempo and sharpness,’ but he will have big questions to answer after a dire 2-0 defeat to Switzerland.

The coach spoke of courage and determination, but there was precious little of that on show at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, which was where Italy won the 2006 World Cup Final.

Switzerland dominated the game and secured a 2-0 victory with goals from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas, the second particularly painful, as it came 27 seconds into the restart after the Azzurri gave it away from the kick-off.

“It’s true that the goal at the start of the second half knocked the confidence out of us. Even if we were in their half, we were not incisive,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.

“What made the difference was the tempo, we were too slow compared to them in the first half. Even in terms of individuals, there was a different tempo of the movements and the duels.

“Unfortunately, sharpness and tempo makes the difference. Last time I thought perhaps if I gave them time to recover and change a few players, they’d be sharper. At this moment, for too many reasons, we are unable to do more than this right now.”

Italy disappointed throughout the EURO 2024 tournament in Germany, fighting back to beat Albania 2-1, losing 1-0 to Spain when the scoreline would’ve been far worse if not for Gianluigi Donnarumma, then scraping a last-gasp draw with Croatia.

If not for that Mattia Zaccagni goal, they wouldn’t even have got out of the group stage, and Switzerland laid bare all the defects seen until then.

Spalletti came in to replace Roberto Mancini midway through qualifying in September 2023, but now he must prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

“There is a long path ahead, we’ll approach that slowly, but naturally we need a higher tempo from the team. Even without talking about quality, we need more spirit of sacrifice, more consistency closing down the opponents, getting back into shape, pressing.

“Unfortunately, many things also came from the way we ended the season. Our players weren’t in exceptional form and with the temperature this high too, it becomes difficult.”

Photo Credit: EURO2024/x

Defending champions Italy crash out of Euro 2024

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Defending champions Italy have been knocked out of Euro 2024 as Switzerland produced a superb performance to ease into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win in Berlin.

Switzerland impressive in the group-stage, denied top spot in Group A only by a last-gasp Germany equaliser, and they quickly established control in this last-16 match, pinning a dismal Italy back and dominating possession.

It was no surprise, then, when the opening goal came, as Remo Freuler made the run into the box and fired past Gianluigi Donnarumma with the help of a slight deflection.

In first half stoppages, Donnarumma fingertipped a surprise Fabian Rieder free kick onto the near post with real difficulty.

Zaccagni, whose last-gasp equaliser against Croatia allowed Italy to qualify, came on for El Shaarawy at half-time, but within 27 seconds Switzerland had doubled their lead with a Ruben Vargas curler into the far top corner with his right boot. Again, the move was started by a misplaced Fagioli pass on the kick-off and he was given far too much time and space to get the shot away.

Fabian Schär almost gifted Italy a way back into the game with a bizarre header that looped onto the upright of his own goal, leaving Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer stunned.

Mateo Retegui came on and bobbled a weak effort into the arms of Sommer, while Gianluca Scamacca flicked the ball onto the far post from close range, though was perhaps offside.

Photo Credit: EURO2024/x