Italy yes, Italy no. On to the European football championships. And therefore: in the predictions of the day before Italy winning the 2024 European Championship is considered a very remote possibility (euphemism), but then again three years ago – in the post-Covid edition of 2021 – the Azzurri at the start were considered like nags without any pedigree. Then we know how things went. So – when a ball rolls – anything is really possible. Almost everything, actually.
Italy enters the tournament in Germany (14 June-14 July) as reigning champions, yet no one would be ready to bet fifty cents on the final success. The two Dream Teams of England and France share the underdogs, so much so that the one between the English and the French is already the christened final. The renewed Germany of young people climbs onto the podium of the favourites, Spain makes itself strong with a new generation of talents, Portugal boasts one of the few planetary stars of the tournament, that Cristiano Ronaldo who has arrived – this time for real – in his Last Dance. And there are also Holland and Belgium ahead of Luciano Spalletti’s team.
Poor Italy, hostel mediocrity (at least in football). Don’t be fooled by the excellent path of our clubs in Europe and the massive participation in the next European cups. This national team has no champions. They are no longer born in our area. In the latest edition of the Ballon d’Or, the only Italian footballer among the 30 on the list was Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella. And in the edition six months ago won for the eighth time by Leo Messi, Barella didn’t even get a single vote.
In addition to Barella, the other Italian player with good credibility in Europe is Gigio Donnarumma, the goalkeeper who plays for PSG and who – for years now – has alternated excellent performances with sensational “ducks”. We can trust – coach Spalletti also said this – in the “strength of the group”. The list of eligible players has been skimmed, with last-minute withdrawals due to injury (Acerbi, Scalvini) and calls up of absloute beginners such as the Bologna full-back Calafiori and the Hellas Verona midfielder Folorunsho; Italy is counting on goals from Atalanta center forward Scamacca.
It is the 17th edition of the European Football Championships, the first was played in 1960. Italy has won twice: in 1968, with the team of Rivera and Riva, and in 2021, with the team of Jorginho and Verratti, Chiesa and Donnarumma. There are 24 participating teams, it is played in 10 cities in Germany. After the first group stage, 16 teams will start the direct elimination phase. The Azzurri were drawn in Group B.
Italy will face Albania (15 June, 9pm at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund), Spain (20 June, 9pm at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen) and Croatia (24 June, 9pm at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig). It’s not an easy group at all, but this happened to us. And there’s the consolation that the pass isn’t that impossible to get. The top two in each group will in fact qualify for the round of 16 and the 4 best third-placed teams will also be added to these 12 teams. And in short, Italy – almost certainly – will only need to win at least one match to be (almost) sure of qualification. The rest is a roll of the dice. The final is scheduled for July 14th at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. If nothing else, the stadium is a good thing: it is there that Lippi’s Italy became world champions in 2006.
