Ready go. It seemed like a nightmare start to the 2024 European Football Championships for the national team led by Luciano Spalletti against Albania. After less than 30 seconds of play, a sensational defensive error by Dimarco put the Albanian striker Bajrami in a position to throw the ball into the net, only in front of Donnarumma. The clock showed 23 seconds of play: every record broken, it is the fastest goal in the history of the European Championships and never conceded by the Azzurri in a major event. But a quarter of an hour of play was enough for the National team to get the match back on track and then reverse the fortunes: in the 11th minute Bastoni’s imperious break from a corner brought the Azzurri back to 1-1, four minutes afterwards his Inter teammate Barella was ready for a short clearance from the Albanian defense and scored to make it 2-1 for the Azzurri. “Avenged” starting mistake. In the rest of the match, Italy managed the advantage and closed the match without excessive problems at 2-1.
The day before and the opponents in the group
A few hours before kick-off the German police stopped several dozen Italy fans armed with “knives, paper bombs and balaclavas” and ready to take action against the Albanian fans. In the other debut match of group B, Spain overwhelmed Croatia this afternoon with a clear 3-0. Games already made in the first half, with goals from Morata (29′), Fabian Ruiz (32′) and Carvajal (47′). Just i reds they will be the next challengers of Spalletti’s Italy, in the match scheduled for Thursday 20 June at 9pm in Gelsenkirchen.
