Football Improvement needed: Italy wants European Championship revenge at its dream destination
Italy’s coach Luciano Spalletti opened the training to the fans. Photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
Italy is returning to the site of its 2006 World Cup triumph. The next step towards defending its European title is to be taken against Switzerland in Berlin. Both teams sense a great opportunity.
Luciano Spalletti took unusual measures to lighten the mood before the round of 16 showdown against Switzerland. Italy’s national coach opened the training session in Iserlohn to the fans – and was in a good mood. He hugged a little boy who had sneaked past the security guards onto the pitch with a smile.
The coach’s outburst of anger after the 1:1 draw against Croatia and the worry about progressing are over. “We have a goal in mind,” said Spalletti before the match on Saturday (6 p.m./RTL/Magenta TV) in Berlin.
The goal is to defend the title and reach the European Championship final in Berlin – the place where the Azzurri became world champions in 2006. Team manager Gianluigi Buffon, who was in goal for the Azzurri at the time, told the team a lot about it, said Spalletti. “He brought back memories for us,” said the 65-year-old. Now we have to live up to them, which is a huge responsibility.
For the first match of the knockout round, the team will return to the Olympic Stadium a little earlier and will face many familiar faces. Six players from Swiss coach Murat Yakin’s squad play in Serie A.
The teams have already met 61 times, including at the 2021 European Championship, when Italy won 3-0 in Rome. The Azzurri also have a score to settle because two draws against Switzerland cost them their place in the 2022 World Cup. Midfielder Jorginho, who is also a regular at this tournament, missed two penalties. The sports newspaper “Corriere dello Sport” took this as a reason for worried speculation about a possible penalty shootout.
In Switzerland, “a lot of things work”
“Italy is the favorite. The anticipation is already extremely high,” said the Swiss Michel Aebischer, who plays for FC Bologna. However, Italy will be missing what TV expert Christoph Kramer considers to be the best player of the tournament so far: Aebischer’s teammate from Bologna, defender Riccardo Calafiori, is suspended after receiving his second yellow card. “I feel sorry for him, he is a very strong player. That’s why it’s good for us that he can’t play,” said Aebischer.
It is questionable whether the role of favorite is really as clear as the 27-year-old makes it out to be. Since the 2014 World Cup, the Swiss have reached the knockout phase of every major tournament. At the last European Championship, they shocked the then reigning world champions France in the round of 16 and advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time.
In the group phase of this European Championship, the Swiss were particularly impressive in their 1:1 draw against Germany. “So far, a lot of things have worked for us,” said Yakin. In the knockout phase, there is of course a “different pressure of expectations,” but the team has “enough quality and experience.”
Italy’s “burden of expectations”
In any case, Italy needs to improve significantly on its performance in the last group match, in which it took a last-minute goal from Mattia Zaccagni after a pass from Calafiori to secure their progress. In the country of the four-time world champions, there was a lot of criticism of the team’s line-up, performance and attitude – which Spalletti countered with an angry reckoning. “We deserved to progress and we’re enjoying that now,” he said. “And then we’ll try to improve.”
After the much-criticized departure of European champion coach Roberto Mancini, Spalletti only had ten months to convey his ideas to the team. This could now come back to haunt him. The 65-year-old changed his system against Croatia, but not much went well.
In the duel with the Swiss, Spalletti will have to restructure his team again. In addition to Calafiori, Federico Dimarco is also missing in defence due to an injury. The participation of central defender Alessandro Bastoni, who recently had a fever, is also very doubtful.
But changes are also looming in the offensive. “Perhaps the burden of expectations slows us down sometimes. We don’t have that experience,” said Spalletti.
The easier half of the tournament?
However, both teams have already realized one thing: the opportunity to advance to Berlin could be good. The favorites Germany, Spain, France and Portugal are all playing in the other half of the tournament.
“Our half of the tournament is definitely easier than the other. But every game is difficult,” said Italy’s Alessandro Buongiorno. Aebischer warned: “There’s no point in looking at who might make it to the quarter-finals or semi-finals. We have to win the game on Saturday first.”
dpa
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