The Azzurri were defeated 2-0 by Switzerland in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 and are returning home. Non-existent is the kindest of words that come to mind to describe the Italian disaster at the European football championships. Not one defeat unexpected, but it came after a match played without intensity, without physical and psychological presence, without courage, without construction of play: Swiss advantage in the 37th minute of the first half, doubling at the beginning of the second half when Italy should have found the equaliser, showing a different spirit compared to the first half.
The group went through thanks to Zaccagni’s miraculous goal against Croatia thirty seconds from the end, but the first three matches had already shown all the difficulties of Spalletti’s team, today also deprived of Richard Calafiori, the best of the Azzurri together with Donnarumma. One might think that, without their goalkeeper, Italy would have done even worse: problems in defense, an invisible attack, a midfield that needed to be rethought.
It had been known for months that there was no Roberto Baggio in the team, but at least there needed to be motivation, will and determination on the pitch. They were not seen, except for brief glimpses. Italy seemed like a lost team, too often in the hands of their opponents, never convinced that they could control the game and win. It was better not even to mention the past glories in this stadium, the World Cup won in 2006. We are very far away and we can only think about how to rebuild a national team that must qualify for 2026 because it really cannot miss the third consecutive World Cup.
The game is a Swiss domain: Freuler from Bologna scored in the 37th minute and Vargas in the first minute of the second half. Italy barely got to the goal, the most dangerous opportunity was a risky own goal by Switzerland. Whistles for Italy. Yakin’s Switzerland will go to the quarterfinals, in Dusseldorf on Saturday 6 July at 18:00: they will face the winner of England-Slovakia.
The words of Luciano Spalletti: «This elimination gives us some indications, because something definitely needs to change. It was an experience where we could have done more, but when you find teams that pass the ball well, you need to do it just as well. Lack of speed? We don’t have many players who have this quality of running, the difference is the freshness when you win the ball back. There is the possibility of building something, but it takes a bit more time. I haven’t had a lot of time, if you look at my predecessors, almost all of them have had more games than me. A few more games could have helped me. In terms of responsibility, that always falls to the coach, I made the choices. Gravina? He has always behaved like a serious professional with me and we’ll see what he has to say».
Source: Vanity Fair

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