For the National, which was also seededthe draw for the qualifying rounds a Euro 2024 he was not among the lucky ones. In the group C we find theEnglandopponent of the final of Wembley which is now becoming a habit as potential revenge multiplies (but the Azzurri have just overtaken it in the Nations League too). L’Ukrainebeyond the tragedy of the war that will unleash intense emotions, it is among the rivals that could rain from the third band one of the most complicated on a technical level. Even the fourth urn was treacherous, because with the north macedoniathat a little over six months ago has the way to the World Cup is blocked for the Azzurriunleashes conflicting sensations, between the occasion of sporting revenge and the fresh poisonous memory. Complete the picture the selection of Maltastruggling these days with Eat case.
Avoid Mbappé and Haaland
But even if the outcome of the draw was not the best possible and only the duel Holland-France in the group B can be considered technically equal to Italy-England, qualifying for the German European Championship would certainly not be a feat for the reigning national team. It wouldn’t even have been with a draw other than this one, in which he dodged France anyway Mbappé from the second bracket and Norway’s Haalandthe danger of the third.
The first two of each group pass
The formula of the 24-team European Championship – UEFA has fortunately resisted the only whispered temptation to expand the tournament to 34 – in fact guarantees the passage of the round to the first two classified of each of the ten groups. And the blues, who thanks to their participation in the Nations League Final Four of June 2023 they were included in a group of 5 and not of 6, they should really make a sesquipedale mess, for not being able to conquer at least the second place. Not to mention that the further loophole of the play-offs of March 2024 – but it would be a disaster in some ways technically superior to the two consecutive play-offs for the World Cup with Sweden and North Macedonia (both lost) – makes it practically impossible to miss the finish line.
Mancini, recover respect for the national team
Thus becomes more than ever another the only real plausible target of Mancini (“It seems affordable to me. It is not an easy group, but they are all to play. The best will be with England. The English again … If this continues it is also good, even if I do not know if Southgate agrees. “said the coach) in the eight matches that await him from March to November 2023, in addition to the two of the aforementioned Nations League Final Four: recover the general respect for the national team, which in this first phase of the season has been visibly lost, including clubs reluctant to concede players and players ready to put the interest of those who pay them before that of the team that represents the country and which, by definition, should always be able to field the best. In Serie A, the use of players that can be selected for the national team has now settled at around 30% or a little more. But the most alarming data concerns the European cups, which are the real stage in which we grow through direct confrontation on the field with the strongest, especially in the Champions League. The symbolic match was Chelsea-Milan: among the twenty-two who started it, the Italian was only one, Tonali.
Space for Italian players
The statistics are particularly alarming for Mancini because instead in the very rich Chelsea, which also raided talents of all nationalities on the summer market, the English coach Potter at one point had seven England players on the field, four of whom grew up. right in Chelsea. The result proved him right. Betting on Italians is not necessarily a risk and Spalletti has shown it, paid off at Ajax’s home And Raspadori. Who, moreover, had just repaid Mancini, who was the true mentor of the Napoli striker in the European field, having called him up and launched him when he had not yet gained any international experience with Sassuolo. Raspadori scored the decisive goals in the victories against England and Hungary, which earned Italy the Final Four of the Nations and a less crowded and tiring group for the European qualifiers. In essence, having good Italians play in the league and in the cups is worthwhile. Because in the end everyone gains: the national team but also the clubs. Who knows if the painful and imminent role of Italy, spectator for the second consecutive time of a World Cup in which the others will play, will not help to change the register as soon as possible.
I LAP
Group A Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus
Group B. Holland, France, Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar
Group C Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta
Group D Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia
Group E Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Moldova
Group F Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia
Group G Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group H Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino
Group I. Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra
Group J Portugal, Bosnia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein
