Still marked by absences from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Italy returns to the European Championship as current champions, three years after lifting the trophy at Wembley, with the same doubts it had at the time about the level of its squad and the lack of a renowned scorer.
Just like in 2021, the ‘Nazionale’ began preparations for Euro-2024, which will be held in Germany (from June 14 to July 14) with a friendly in Bologna, this time a goalless draw against Turkey, on Tuesday -fair.
It is not the only common point in Italy’s two campaigns towards the European Championship.
Like Roberto Mancini, whom he succeeded in August, Luciano Spalletti inherits a team traumatized by the failure in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar, as had happened four years earlier for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The former Napoli coach also deals with the lack of offensive efficiency of his team, whose top scorer is Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella, scorer of nine goals in 53 games for the ‘Azzurra’ team.
Italy’s offensive fragility partly explains their difficult classification, in which they finished in second place, six points behind England and with the same points as Ukraine, whom they overcame thanks to a better goal difference.
Luciano Spalletti’s #Azzurri squad for #EURO2024 🇮🇹 💪#VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/RsMHbiAMoj
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) June 6, 2024
Acerbi and Scalvini, the absences
Added to this is their defensive fragility, combined with last-minute injuries to Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan) and Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), shortly before leaving for the Coverciano training center.
Even goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, voted best player at the last European Championship, seems in crisis, with problems especially when he needs to impose himself on aerial balls, an aspect in which he also makes mistakes for PSG.
Everything seems worrying before debuting in a high-level group B; playing against Albania on June 15th, Spain on the 20th and Croatia on the 24th.
But Spalletti did not sit idly by. In their group of 29 players, which will be reduced to 26 on Thursday, there are only eight from the squad that won the Euro in 2021, by beating England on penalties (1-1 in the 120 minutes and 3-2 on penalties).
The solid defense formed by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, crucial in the title, is no longer present, as are Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile and Leonardo Spinazzola, out of the squad due to below-expected performance.
‘On the right path’
“I have a great feeling. We are on the right track,” said Spalletti before the game against Turkey.
Since arriving, the coach has insisted on the need for his players to perform in an exemplary manner and be proud to wear the ‘Azzurra’ shirt.
Along these lines, it imposed strict rules, prohibiting, among other things, long nightly sessions of video games in gatherings.
On the field he dictated six principles for his ‘Nazionale’, including “continuous pressure” and “game control”, repeated in each of his public appearances and printed in the dressing rooms.
To consolidate the group spirit, Spalletti called up this week in Coverciano the ‘fantastic five’ of Italian football: forwards Giancarlo Antognoni, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, Gianni Rivera and Francesco Totti, who together have scored 84 goals.
“We have to show how high they took this shirt, the height of their love for our history and our colors”, said the coach.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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