It was the match of fear this Monday evening in Leipzig (Germany) between Croatia and Italy… Until the last minute. The slightest defeat on either side could plunge one of the greatest European nations into fear of elimination in this Euro 2024. And in this game, the Squadra Azzura managed to validate its ticket for the 8th in the last second of the match thanks to a sublime goal from Zaccagni.
The Italians are pushing the Croatians to the brink thanks to this somewhat crazy draw (1-1) between two selections that have been lacking offensively since the start of this Euro 2024.
If the spectators at Leipzig Stadion could believe in a closed meeting between two of the least impressive teams in front of goals since the start of Euro 2024 – even more so with the absence of Italian star Federico Chiesa, a strong choice from Luciano Spalletti – Croatian winger Luka Sucic made them lie in the 4th minute by sending a mine from 25m which Gianluigi Donnarumma magnificently diverted.
Two minutes to change the meeting
The first 45 minutes, even if void and blank, gave rise to a beautiful duel from afar between the two goalkeepers. On the one hand, the PSG goalkeeper appeared in front of Luka Modric (31st) while Dominik Livakovic responded perfectly in the 26th minute with a huge save in front of Alessandro Bastoni’s header surprisingly alone on a delicious cross by Nicolò Barella. Pellegrini, 10 minutes later, also failed to find the opening on the Croatian goalkeeper despite a nice cross shot from the left that was well captured.
This remote duel resumed with a vengeance after the restart. While Frattesi had conceded a penalty on a flagrant handball, Donnarumma, starting on the right side, took out Modric’s attempt. But the Italian goalkeeper could do nothing a minute later. After deflecting Budimir’s header on a first miracle, “Gigio” was unable to become a new savior in front of Modric, well placed on this same action, and revengeful after his missed penalty to push the ball into the back of the net ( 1-0, 55th).
These two minutes of madness, in addition to bringing a few tears down the face of the Croatian captain, opened the way for a last half hour of madness. In an attack-defense on Livakovic’s goal, Bastoni with a header (60th), Darmian with a left (67th) or Frattesi with a right (69th) failed to find the target. Federico Chiesa, author of a good entry into play, missed the opportunity to pick up the score at the very end of the match (86th) by lacking precision in his cross for Gianluca Scamacca despite being alone in front of the goal.
The deliverance finally came from Mattia Zaccagni in the 98th minute. At the end of added time, the Lazio player, only 27 minutes on the clock in this Euro, found himself in a perfect position at the corner of the area on a Calafiori shift. For his seventh selection, the man who had never before scored in the Squadra Azzura jersey placed his curling shot with his right foot directly into the top corner (1-1, 98th) to bring the entire stadium and the Italian bench to their feet. With 4 points in 3 matches, Italy has validated its ticket for the round of 16 and already knows its opponent in the round of 16. It will be Switzerland.
For its part, Croatia, with two small points, is no longer master of its destiny, and should say goodbye to the Euro, barring a miracle.
