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England beat Italy 2-1 on the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples Thursday as Gareth Southgate’s facet scored twice within the first half with Declan Rice and Harry Kane discovering the web. Italian expertise Mateo Retegui, born in Argentina, scored the one objective for the house facet within the second half of his debut with the Azzurri jersey. The dwelling group paid tribute to Gianluca Vialli earlier than the match began because it was the primary sport after his passing final January. England gained the primary sport of the 2024 Euro qualifiers in what is certainly essentially the most troublesome sport of the group stage whereas Italy began off with a defeat however will play once more this Sunday in opposition to Malta the place they need to rebound.
Here’s what to know:
Italian skills nonetheless need to shine
Roberto Mancini’s new cycle has simply began however the street continues to be a protracted one. The Italian nationwide group, underneath the previous Manchester City coach, skilled two totally different phases since he was appointed in 2018. The first thee years had been actually profitable within the qualifiers and culminated with the historic win on the Euros within the last in opposition to England at Wembley. Mancini counted on the veterans with some new faces reminiscent of Nicolò Barella, Federico Chiesa and Leonardo Spinazzola that had been among the many finest gamers of the event. However, issues went downhill and Italy did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup after shedding in opposition to North Macedonia within the playoffs.
Mancini determined to remain in cost and did not depart regardless of rumors. The supervisor began a model new cycle and referred to as some actually younger gamers into the squad. He already did it with Nicolò Zaniolo when he referred to as him in earlier than he made his Serie A debut again in September 2018 and this time he did one thing related with gamers reminiscent of Simone Pafundi (born in 2006) and Retegui who selected to play for Italy as a substitute of Argentina.
Pafundi, particularly, is among the finest skills of Italian soccer. He’s presently enjoying for Udinese however not as a starter. Despite that, Mancini stated some good phrases about him on Monday when he said that when he writes down the names of the listing he is the primary one he writes. Willy Gnonto is one other participant that Mancini trusts, as he already performed eight video games and scored one after he made his debut in June 2022. Mancini’s ambition is to speed up the method of bettering these gamers within the nationwide group whereas the golf equipment are sometimes reluctant to provide extra minutes to the Italian younger stars. It’s a really formidable thought, however Mancini is satisfied this needs to be finished to construct for the longer term.
Southgate’s second attempt
England are in a very totally different place in comparison with Italy. Southgate’s facet began this challenge again in 2016 and already coached the Three Lions in two World Cups and one UEFA Euros. Compared to Italy, Southgate can rely on a way more strong squad with younger gamers which might be shining within the Premier League for years like Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka. The principal distinction between Italy and England is that the English younger gamers are repeatedly enjoying Premier League and European soccer with their respective golf equipment, whereas the Italian ones are struggling to play regularly.
This is why England, regardless of their failure to win a trophy, are in a a lot better place. They’re constructing this challenge 12 months by 12 months and this consistency of outcomes is main them to turn out to be one of many high candidates at Euro 2024.
