It won't be the rematch of the Euro 2020 final, but for England this victory over Italy, which is predictable given the names of the players on the pitch, still means a lot. First of all, the mathematical qualification for next year's continental tournament in Germany, and then the confirmation of a superiority that in any case appeared clear only in the second half.
In fact, in the first 45 minutes the Azzurri had played on an equal footing, without any fear just as Luciano Spalletti had asked them, and in the end the difference was made by the greater class of the English stars. First of all Jude Bellingham, a twenty-year-old with pure talent, who first, at 0-1 in favor of Italy, procured the equalizing penalty (Di Lorenzo's intervention on him was out of time), converted by the usual Harry Kane, then with a magic in midfield he invented the winning assist for Rashford, a striker also famous for his charitable activities, who came up with a conclusion that Donnarumma could do little or nothing about. Bellingham deserved the standing ovation he received when he left the field with a quarter of an hour to go. England's third goal in the second half, again with Kane, who 'drank' Bastoni and Scalvini and then slipped in Donnarumma. This was a goal on the Italian counterattack, but it was the opponents who scored it.
And what about Italy? The memory of the victory at Wembley 50 years ago with Capello's goal is far away. Today's team was perhaps deceived by Scamacca's initial goal, his first in the Azzurri, then gradually during the game, and despite the great work of El Shaarawy and Frattesi, the team lost the ability to handle the ball leaving the field to the opponents, and the greater 'displacement' of the formation coached by Southgate came out, Loudly pushed by the public, apart from the boos for Jordan Henderson, guilty of having betrayed, by going to Saudi Arabia, the cause of civil rights of which he was a champion. Italy had taken the lead in their first real attacking action, which started on the left flank and then finished on the opposite lane with Di Lorenzo who put a ball in the middle that was smoothed by Frattesi and sent to the back of the net by Scamacca.
Now the Azzurri, given tonight's result and Ukraine's success against Malta, will have the obligation to overcome the nightmare of North Macedonia, the very national team that blocked the way to the Azzurri for the World Cup in Qatar, and then play everything against the Ukrainians in the match on a neutral field in Leverkusen. Spalletti spoke at the end of the game of "some corrections to be found" also for having suffered too much from the physical strength of the opponents, more aggressive than his own, and he is right. But we will also need to be more effective going forward, because Scamacca cannot be the only solution to the problems. And this is an ancient handicap that cannot be solved: after all, going to see the squads of the various clubs, it is not easy to find Italian 'punteros' and so the coach, whoever he is, has to make do with what the convent goes through. But in this way the risk is to make little headway.
Spalletti: good game overall but sometimes surprised
"We started well and overall we played a good game with some very good things but at the same time we conceded situations that teams like England make you pay." This is what Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said to RAI after the defeat against the English at Wembley. "I have had correct answers on the search for what we want to become, but it is clear that in the open confrontation we have to find some corrections," he continued. We suffered at times from their physical strength and too many times we were a bit surprised by what was happening."
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