Italy lost 2-0 against Switzerland in a match that was never in doubt, in which the Azzurri were put under pressure from start to finish. The reigning champions’ European Championship ends in the round of 16 and in the worst possible way. A path that of the team of Shoulder pads which, with the exception of the encouraging debut against Albania, has never convinced: «Yes, the spark never lit – the coach’s words to the Rai microphones – the responsibility is always the coach’s, I made the choices. I will talk to Gravina and
we will hear…”. And on the match: « The second half at the start of the second half cut our legs short. We remained in their half of the field but not very incisively. The pace made the difference, we were too inferior in the first half. Even in the individual matches there was a different pace, as well as in the duels. I changed the players compared to the last match, I had rested them, but in terms of pace we were still too inferior. Maybe at this moment we are not able to do anymore for different conditions.”
“We didn’t get here in optimal condition”
Various rhythm and conditioning, these are the causes of the difficulties of the second national team Luciano Spalletti, who tries to look forward: «The road to the 2026 World Cup will be very tough, but we’ll think about that later. Beyond quality, more skill and more sacrifice are needed. Many didn’t do that little bit extra to press, to recover even just a centimetre. We didn’t arrive here in an exceptional condition.”
Donnarumma bitter: «We apologize to everyone, we have disappointed»
Even today the only one to be saved was the goalkeeper, Donnarumma: «Going out like this hurts, really hurts. We apologize to everyone – his words to Rai – Today we disappointed, Switzerland deserved it, there’s nothing else to say. We struggled throughout the match, in the first half we lost too many balls, leaving too many spaces. A very hard match to digest, but that’s how it went. You have to accept it. Lack of courage? In reality, everything was lacking, in addition to this, also the qualities. In the first half we did terribly, they always had the ball in the game and this killed us.” The apathy of the team, which never reacted, is also striking: «Yes, it’s true, we didn’t help each other. Conceding a goal immediately after half-time is unacceptable — Gigio continued to Sky Sport — future? We have the foundations to start again. There are many young and strong guys who just need experience».
Cristante: «Too much difference in terms of gameplay»
Cristante also appeared before the microphones: «There is little to save, they have put us under control from every point of view. We lost deservedly,
now we just need to clean our heads a bit and start again with a different attitude next year. If there is so much difference in terms of organization and play, it becomes difficult and we always arrive late. You try, but you fail. They were superior, you deserve to go home. It’s too early to find a reason, but there are many things that went wrong. There isn’t just one factor.” The Inter fan Darmian with a broken voice to Sky: «Let’s take our responsibilities and show our face. Now it’s difficult to explain, it’s hard. We must apologize to everyone for what we did.”
