Italy gallops on the back of Federico Chiesa | Soccer | Sports

Straight

Italy got its difficult qualifying campaign towards the Euro Cup back on track with a 5-2 victory over Macedonia. The victory disguises the passage through a ring of fire. Because Macedonia, the rival that eliminated Italy in the qualifying playoffs for the Qatar World Cup, scored two goals, took the game to 3-2, and was about to come back in a climate full of tension in the Olympic stadium in Rome , this Friday night. Now it is enough for Italy to get a draw against Ukraine on the last day of Group C, next Monday, to secure the second place that provides a direct ticket and overcome the trauma it has carried since November 12, 2017, when in On the eve of the play-off against Sweden, captain Buffon issued the cursed proclamation: “We Italians are subscribed to the World Cup.” The next day Italy was left out of the World Cup in Russia and Buffon announced his withdrawal.

5

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Federico Gatti, Acerbi, Dimarco, Darmian, Bonaventura (Davide Frattesi, min. 62), Jorginho (Critante, min. 62), Barella, Federico Chiesa (Nicolo Zaniolo, min. 61), Giacomo Raspadori (Gianluca Scamacca, min. 89) y Berardi (El Shaarawy, min. 76)

2

Dimitrievski, Nikola Serafimov, Musliu, Jovan Manev, Agon Elezi, Ademi (Jani Atanasov, min. 45), Bojan Dimoski, Alioski, Enis Bardhi, Elmas (Churlinov, min. 72) and Bojan Miovski

Goals 1-0 min. 16: Darmian. 2-0 min. 41: Federico Chiesa. 3-0 min. 47: Federico Chiesa. 3-1 min. 51: Jani Atanasov. 3-2 min. 73: Jani Atanasov. 4-2 min. 80: Giacomo Raspadori. 5-2 min. 93: El Shaarawy.

Referee Felix Zwayer

Tarjetas amarillas Nicolo Zaniolo (min. 71), Churlinov (min. 78), Askovski (min. 80), Milan Ristovski (min. 83), Nikola Serafimov (min. 86) y Acerbi (min. 89)

“We walk alongside fear,” Spalletti warned this week. He was revealing. Top-level football is a scary game, but its protagonists rarely rationalize it, much less in public. Nerves, fear, and also panic, silently stalk the players behind each control of the ball, especially when a nation places all its hopes on a victory that is recognized as a right acquired by tradition.

After suffering two tragic eliminations that expelled Italy from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and after heading dangerously towards another calamity at the gates of the 2024 Euro Cup, Luciano Spalletti, appointed coach in the midst of a crisis of results, last summer, knew that his mission as head of the national team consisted mainly of combating the terror that his players felt of being accused of being responsible for another historic failure. Far from using euphemisms, he presented the problem out loud: here is the horror. He immediately pointed the way to the solution. Courage to ask for and pass the ball meaningfully through a circuit in which the order is determined by the choice of the men with the strongest temperament. First Jorginho, the helmsman, then Chiesa, one of those wingers who multiply by a hundred, and finally Raspadori, the mobile Napoli striker, a true false nine, another camouflaged midfielder. Against Macedonia, due to injuries, Spalletti discovered another pillar: Federico Gatti, the 25-year-old Juventus centre-back. A daring one.

Clinging to the sure feet of Jorginho and the bravery of Chiesa, the team was breaking the physical and psychological pressure imposed on it by Macedonia and the atmosphere. Absent due to injury in the play-off on March 23, 2022 that Macedonia won at La Favorita in Palermo, the fiery Federico Chiesa rose in Rome to offer everything that a distressing match required. Son of Enrico, the fantastic forward of Fiorentina and Roma, the Juve winger is a rare case of genetic transmission of aggressiveness from the consecrated father to the rich son from birth. He never hides. He never settles. He never considers any task solved before undertaking it. He comes first to the call. He does not assume acquired rights. He is also not inhibited if they chase him with kicks, as Bojan Dimoski did, who paralyzed his right thigh with a knee in the first minutes of the night. Chiesa insisted on the left wing, lame until he was replaced after an hour but important at crucial moments.

Chiesa caused the corner that led to 1-0, the work of Darmian, with a header, and Chiesa scored 2-0 after one of those moments that seem to indicate a kind of curse. It was around the 40th minute when the referee signaled a penalty for handball and Jorginho went to the penalty spot carrying a ton on his shoulders. The entire public knew that a penalty missed by Jorginho in that same goal, in 2022, against Sweden, had dragged Italy towards the fateful play-off of La Favortia. And of course, Jorginho did not execute his finest shot. Dimitravski, Rayo’s goalkeeper, guessed his intention by projecting himself to his left post and the score remained at 1-0. At least for one more minute. The time it took for Chiesa to connect a ball from outside the area and send it into the net along with the whole feeling of failure that threatened to overwhelm his teammates, distressed by Jorginho’s failure.

Spalletti balances

Inflamed as he was, Chiesa scored 3-0 in the last minute of extra time, before half-time. Around the 60th minute, with the game reasonably on track, Spalletti made changes thinking about the decisive duel against Ukraine. The first, the tired Jorginho, who does not play much for Arsenal and is just in form; Chiesa, who was obviously limping, and Bonaventura.

Thinking that with the less capable players it would be enough to hold the lead against Macedonia while reserving strength for the duel with Ukraine, Spalletti walked a fine ledge. He was on the verge of destroying everything he had achieved. The substitutes, Cristante, Frattesi and Zaniolo, failed to take control of the game against some absolutely uninhibited Macedonians. If Atanasov’s first goal brought out hidden nerves, the second made the stands buzz. Perplexity spread through the fans when Raspadori scored the relief goal. El Shaarawy succeeded him with the fifth, the final one on a night of liberation.

“Macedonia’s second goal was an accident,” said Spalletti; “and our reaction deserves to be highlighted. “We played well for 90 minutes.”

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.

2023-11-17 23:11:15
#Italy #gallops #Federico #Chiesa #Soccer #Sports