Rome (AFP) – Luciano Spalletti begins “serious work now” after he completed on Monday the task of leading Italy to the European Cup finals scheduled for next summer in Germany, a few months after he took over the mission to succeed Roberto Mancini, who led the “Azzurri” to the continental title in the summer of 2021.
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On Monday, Italy avoided repeating the nightmare of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualifiers and gained the opportunity to defend its continental title with a breathtaking draw against its “host” Ukraine 0-0 in the German city of Leverkusen in the final round of the third group competitions.
Italy was very close to experiencing what happened to it in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, when it was eliminated by North Macedonia with a fatal goal in the second minute of stoppage time, after Mikhailo Modric fell in the forbidden area following an intervention by Brian Cristenanti, but “VAR” did not He intervenes, sparing Azzurri another disaster.
Even goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma admitted after the match, “After reviewing the video, it could have been awarded (the penalty kick), in my opinion. But we are satisfied with what happened. Let’s say we are fine about what happened. We are not thinking about it now, but rather thinking about celebrating and enjoying this tie.” Hard work against a big team.”
The Italian team found itself in an unenviable position once again, as it entered the last two rounds in third place, three points behind Ukraine, which played a match more than them.
He succeeded in the first test when he broke the North Macedonia knot by defeating them 5-2 on Friday, seizing second place from Ukraine by the difference in the direct confrontation between them, after winning at home 2-1 on September 12 last year.
Italy played Monday’s match in Leverkusen, where Ukraine played the home match due to the Russian invasion, and its fate was in its own hands, as it only needed a draw to join England, runner-up and leader of the group, to the finals scheduled between June 14 and July 14 next.
Spalletti’s men achieved this after a breathtaking match, especially in the last minutes that saw Ukraine take control and demand a penalty kick.
As for the coach who led Napoli last season to win the Italian League title for the first time since 1990, “Given what happened in the recent past with other tournaments (the World Cup in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022), we were required to qualify and it is not easy to play football when you feel pressure.” “It is not easy to arrive (to his new mission) and make the right choices immediately.”
He revealed, “I did not learn some things until after taking the job, and now I think I know more. I came here to qualify, not to look for excuses if we fail to qualify,” stressing, “The serious work begins now. I now have the opportunity to start working properly.” actual”.
“I learned that qualification is mandatory.”
Despite his initial decision to step away from training for a year in order to catch his breath after leading Napoli to the title, Spalletti changed his mind in August after he was offered the task of supervising the national team, succeeding Mancini, who made a sudden decision to resign before later landing in Saudi Arabia to supervise its national team. .
The 64-year-old said, “When I agreed to take charge, I knew that qualifying (for the European Cup) was mandatory.”
Spalletti introduced changes to the way the team works, including an application that allows players to watch video lectures and tactical analyzes even if they are not in the “Azzurri’s” Coverciano Center.
Spalletti aims to “get as close as possible to what is happening at the club. We want to keep the players in touch, so I will not wait until March (the date of the next international window), but rather I will go to the training centers and have dinner with them and ask for their opinions.”
During his six matches with the national team, Spalletti achieved three victories, two draws and a defeat at the hands of England 1-3 at Wembley.
From his experience so far, he stressed, “We have great players in this national team and I want to get to know them without the pressure resulting from the need for a result. The players have things to tell us,” revealing the tendency to use a drone in training in order to record what is happening and improve it accordingly.
On Monday evening at the BayArena in Leverkusen, “We needed this result to get back to important football. Without the European Cup, it will be difficult to enter the growth process. I will demand that we play the most difficult friendly matches possible because many of these players do not have A lot of experience at European level, so when will they be able to get it?” If they do not play friendly against strong teams.
After the difficult qualification, Donnarumma seemed optimistic by saying, “We are going to Germany to win” the title, explaining to the Italian “Rai” channel, “We are very happy. After all the difficulties we faced, we will also be in Germany and we will go there as European champions in order to win.” “In order to return home with something.”
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2023-11-21 11:00:12
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