Of Pancrazio Cardelli Anfuso
Start with a victory the European championship of Spalletti’s Italyholder of the trophy but not very listed in the stock market of possible winners, due to the vicissitudes following the London triumph in 2021, with the elimination from the World Cup and the farewell of the winning coach Roberto Mancini.
A start to the match that brings to mind that of the night of Mar Del Plata, Argentina, 1978, the world debut of Bearzot’s Italy: a deep breakaway by Didier Six, concluded with a cross on which Lacombe pounced, beating Bellugi in time. Not even a minute that time: this time even faster, the mistake of Dimarco who recklessly beats a lateral foul by serving a comfortable ball to Bajrami, who, mindful of the goal scored by Dimarco himself in the match won by Sassuolo 2- 1, doesn’t take any time and strikes Donnarumma with a powerful shot.
In Argentina, it took Italy a long time to overturn the result, with goals from Rossi and Zaccarelli. This time the reaction is immediate and quickly produces an equalizer, with Bastoni heading Pellegrini’s cross into the net, amending himself from responsibility for the Albanian goal, in conjunction with Dimarco, and the advantage, with a sharp shot from Barella, on his return after some apprehension due to an annoying injury. The Inter player confirms himself as decisive: for some time he seems to be the strongest and most integrated Italian footballer on international stages.
Italy is strong in the first half, dribbling, rhythm, dangerous lunges, the possibility of rounding off the result denied by excellent interventions from the former Lazio player Strakosha, who confirms himself as very strong between the posts as he is uncertain when coming out. Albania tries to resist but is a little passive, Italy insists but slowly begins to manage and the match loses intensity. There are few playable balls for Scamacca, the man who should solve the crisis of the center forward role in blue. Italy is reflected a little in its clear superiority, the whirlwind of changes does not change the inertia of the match, which slips with the Azzurri in control, even excessive, because at these levels a lack of attention can happen and the minimum advantage does not put shelter from surprises.
At the end of the ninetieth minute, a splendid throw from Asllani finds Manaj, who surpasses a distracted Calafiori, an impeccable debutant until then, and kicks towards goal without fail, with Donnarumma reaching out desperately towards him, managing to repel, with his body, between shoulder, armpit and trunk, in a fortuitous but effective way. It ends in glory, but the thrill was there: now the national team awaits the most difficult test, against Spain who dispatched Croatia, in decline but full of important names, with three goals in the first half.
The performance of the Azzurri was comforting, at least for a while, and the reaction to the unexpected blow suffered in the cold was good. Albania, however, was not the most reliable test to weigh the qualities of Italy, who are expected to make the difficult defense of the title won at Wembley, at the end of a beautiful gallop.
Appointment at Thursday 20th9pm, in Gelsenkirchen, in the Schalke 04 stadium.
Report cards: Donnarumma 6.5; Di Lorenzo 5.5, Bastoni 6.5, Calafiori 6, Dimarco 6-; Frattesi 6.5, Jorginho 6, Barella 7; Chiesa 6.5, Scamacca 6, Pellegrini 6. Cambiaso took over for Chiesa and Cristante for Pellegrini in the 77th minute, Darmian and Retegui in the 83rd minute for Dimarco and Scamacca, Folorunsho in the 92nd minute for Barella.
