Turnaround: Italy qualifies for Euros with 3 games to spare
Two years after failing to qualify for the World Cup, Italy’s turnaround could not be more emphatic.
The Azzurri overcame Greece’s defensive tactics for a 2-0 win Saturday and qualified for the 2020 European Championship with three matches to spare.
And qualification comes with quite a bonus: Italy is now assured of playing in the opening match of next year’s tournament at home in Rome in June.
“We haven’t really achieved anything yet but let’s enjoy this moment,” coach Roberto Mancini said. “We should be happy with the way the squad is playing. Italy still needs to work a lot to improve. But there’s not such a big gap from the big European squads.”
Brazilian-born midfielder Jorginho converted a penalty after the hour mark after a blatant handball by Andreas Bouchalakis. Then substitute Federico Bernardeschi scored from outside Armstrong (87).
In Group E, Hungary maintained their chance with a narrow 1-0 win against bottom team Azerbaijan.
Their hero was Mihaly Korhut who scored the all-important goal after only 10 minutes.
The victory moved the Magyars into second place on 12 points. the area with a low, bouncing shot that was deflected.
Italy extended its perfect record in Group J to seven wins in seven matches. Add in a friendly victory over the United States last year and the Azzurri are in position to match the national team’s record of nine straight wins set under Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s by beating Liechtenstein tomorrow.
“I appreciate the comparison but Pozzo is a legend because he won two World Cups, not for a run of nine straight wins,” Mancini said. “It was great to see the (Stadio) Olimpico full like this and we hope it will be even more magical next June.”
It was nearly two years ago that Italy lost a playoff to Sweden and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup – leaving the fourtime champion out of soccer’s biggest tournament for the first time in 54 years.
“The most important thing is that the fans have rediscovered their enthusiasm for the Azzurri,” Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said.
Croatia are still leading the Group with 14 points from seven matches after drawing 11 against Wales in Cardiff.
Vlasic opened the scoring for Croatia after 9 minutes, but Gareth Bale equalised for the home side in the 45th minute.
Wales remain 4th on 8 points and only have a remote chance of qualifying. “We’re definitely on the right track toward recovering what was lost in recent years.”
Italy has a full 21 points, nine more than second-place Finland. The top two teams of each group advance.
Greece, which has five points, had already lost hope of qualifying.
There were nearly 60,000 fans at the Stadio Olimpico in anticipation of the qualifying celebration but they were kept quiet for much of the night as Greece defended in large numbers.
“It’s always tough when squads pull everyone back to defend,” Mancini said. “We were too frenetic in the first half. We should have patiently moved the ball around to open up spaces. Instead, we attempted long balls and that’s no good. It was a much more relaxed second half. We kept focused and achieved our goal.”
Italy began to threaten more after the break and earned a penalty when Bouchalakis stuck out his arm to block a shot from Lorenzo Insigne that appeared on target.
Jorginho, who holds dual citizenship, sent goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis the wrong way after a nervous buildup to the spot kick as the referee took his time putting the players in order.
Fifteen minutes later, Bernardeschi took a pass from captain Leonardo Bonucci and scored his first Italy goal in more than a year.
Then it wasn’t long before the Stadio Olimpico was rocking to the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” — the soundtrack to Italy’s last title at the 2006 World Cup.
Argentina routs Ecuador 6-1 without suspended Messi
Argentina routed Ecuador 6-1 in a friendly game in Spain yesterday despite the absence of suspended Lionel Messi.
Lucas Alario, Leandro Paredes, Germán Pezzella, Nicolás Domínguez and Lucas Ocampos scored for Argentina, which also got on the board with an owngoal by Ecuadorean defender Jhon Espinoza.
Argentina, without many of the starters who played in the recent 2-2 draw against Germany, was up 3-0 at halftime in the southeastern Spanish city of Elche. Ángel Mena scored Ecuador’s only goal in the second half before Argentina added three more.
There was a brief dispute before Argentina’s third goal, which came from a penalty kick. Lautaro Martínez had the ball and wanted to take the penalty, but Paredes prevailed after a discussion between the two. Martínez left complaining but celebrated the goal along with his teammates.
Messi was serving a threemonth suspension from internationals because of comments he made against South American soccer body CONMEBOL during this year’s Copa América in Brazil.
Argentina also was without players from Boca Juniors and River Plate because the teams are playing each other in the Copa Libertadores semifinal. Others missing from the squad were forwards Ángel Di María and Sergio Aguero.