SWITZERLAND-ITALY 2-0 37′ Freuler, 46′ Vargas
After leaving us at home in the 2022 World Cup, Switzerland sends us home to Euro2024. This time without ifs or buts. No missed penalties, no “disappointing” draws. Yakin wraps up Spalletti and the Swiss dominate from the first minute. The two draws with Switzerland that had brought them to second place in the qualifying group for Qatar 2022 hurt, but in those two games Italy dominated. Today in Berlin the game was played only by Switzerland. We return home with a narrow victory against Albania, a 98th-minute draw with Croatia and two “rumbas” taken from Spain and Switzerland. A complete failure. We do not participate in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004, where we were eliminated by a pearl by Ibrahimovic in the 95th minute and the fateful biscuit between Sweden and Denmark. Here no biscuits, only many demerits of the Azzurri. Without ideas, without a game, without logic. And to think that this European Championship was supposed to be the starting point for the 2026 American World Cup. A first half bordering on the embarrassing as the numbers show. Ten shots to one for Switzerland, even worse than the 9-1 that Spain had inflicted on us in the first 45 minutes. Yakin’s team is clearly more intense, physical and orderly, Italy has no semblance of logic with a “mutilated” left flank with no outlets in the construction phase and a right flank full of technical errors. Xhaka and his teammates thus have an easy time attacking in the Italian half of the pitch and regaining control of the game. Italy lacks everything and finding a single responsible is impossible. From Spalletti’s questionable choices to the many individual performances bordering on the embarrassing. El Shaarawy “pays” by leaving the pitch at half-time for Zaccagni, but the emblem of the Italian disaster is the first action of the second half. Kick-off prepared with a “scheme” that includes a throw from Fagioli, a ball given to the Swiss who with four touches find Vargas in the penalty area, his right-footed shot dies under the crossbar and finds the double. If the first half had been on the edge of embarrassing, the kick-off and the 2-0 immediately conceded in this way go beyond decency. Schar tries to get us back into the game with an unfortunate header on a bad cross from Fagioli, but the post saves the Newcastle centre-back. With the entry of Retegui for Barella and the double centre-forward Spalletti tries everything, the result is a post from Scamacca on a header from Zaccagni and a lot of possession in the Swiss half, but too sterile. At 75′ finally a left-back enters on the left who can give an outlet to the maneuver with Cambiaso for Darmian, Pellegrini also in for Cristante. However, ideas are lacking, quality is lacking and above all attitude is lacking. Switzerland never suffers and deservedly books a ticket to Dusseldorf, we pack our bags and head back to Rome from Berlin with our tails between our legs. Below are the report cards for Switzerland-Italy:.
DONNARUMMA: The usual miracle on Embolo midway through the first half to punch the card again today. Mancini’s deflection cuts him off on Freuler’s left. He hits Rieder’s free kick on the post at the end of the first half. Twenty seconds into the second half Vargas puts it under the crossbar and beats it for the second time. VOTE 6 INNOCENT
DI LORENZO: Vargas targets him in the first minutes and only stops him with bad moves. He suffers less defensively, but he pushes little and when he does he is imprecise. His slide at the end of the first half on which he risks getting hurt is the image of his European Championship. RATING 4.5 WEAK POINT
MANCINI: He doesn’t follow Embolo’s cuts and tries to anticipate. Result, a great opportunity for Embolo who starts behind him and three wrong anticipations in 45 minutes. He creates more than Bastoni because Italy only comes out on the right, difficult to understand why, and often takes refuge in the long throw. From his wrong anticipation on Embolo comes the action of the goal by Freuler, to whom he leaves too much space. Also late on Rieder, he gets the yellow in the second half. VOTE 4 INACCURATE
STICKS: He returns to his natural center-left position but is little involved in the setup. He comes out on Rieder and leaves Mancini alone in the center of defense on Freuler’s goal. He should lead the defense, he gets overwhelmed by events. RATING 5 WITHOUT LEADERSHIP
DARMIAN: He keeps Embolo in the game on Switzerland’s first big chance. Ndoye bothers him a lot and suffers, he never accompanies him in the setup phase and on the left the wing is “crippled”. RATING 4.5 SACRIFICED (FROM 75′ CAMBIASO: Few balls touched, the action almost always develops on the left but there is little overlapping on Zaccagni. He tries a cross from the three-quarter line, it is more than what the other full-backs did today but not enough. RATING 5.5 SHY)
CHRISTIAN: Italy only comes out on the right, misses too many touches and the Azzurri’s possession suffers as a result. There would be space and time to accompany Chiesa or support Scamacca, but it’s not his game. He never changes pace, neither with the running nor with the quality. He observes Vargas’ insertion on the Swiss double without feeling the slightest aggression on the shot. VOTE 4.5 SINGLE PASS (FROM 75′ PELLEGRINI: He enters with 15 minutes to go, moves a lot but sees few balls. He tries a shot from 25 meters that ends up in the curve and little else. RATING 5.5 NOT INVOLVED)
BEANS: Enterprising in the few times that his teammates find him, he also looks for the difficult solution to verticalize. Freuler attacks him from behind in the 37th minute and he loses it when the Swiss take the lead. He does the offensive phase well, but we almost never do it due to Switzerland’s tactical and physical dominance in the first half. The kick-off of the second half was disastrous, resulting in Vargas’ second goal. RATING 4.5 SINGLE PHASE (FROM 86′ FRATTESI: He starts the European Championship as a starter, he finishes it as the last substitution with a few minutes to go. He has no time to make an impact. VOTE ST)
BARELLA: Limited by the Swiss pressing and Spalletti’s choices that forces Italy to play only on the right. Never involved, he loses many balls and in the 35th minute he gets a yellow card after yet another lost ball. RATING 4.5 EMPTY (FROM 63′ GOAL: He touches the ball for the first time in the 73rd minute, ten minutes after coming on, and tries a left-footed shot from the edge of the area. A wet rag comes out, which nevertheless represents Italy’s first shot on target. VOTE 5 NULL)
CHURCH: Look for a solution both on the right and on the left. In his lane he is poorly accompanied by Di Lorenzo and Cristante who lack quality. He doesn’t know who to talk to and at the end of the first half he vanishes from the pitch. He tries in every way to do something. His and Italy’s European Championships ended with a left-footed shot that ended in a lateral foul. He tries until the 92nd minute, this is a merit in the blue disaster. RATING 5.5 ADMIRABLE
SCAMACCA: The desert surrounds him, the exteriors do not squeeze and the midfielders do not accompany. He is isolated and in the few balls he touches he is imprecise. In the final, on Zaccagni’s spurt who finally creates something, he hits the post with the winger. The comparison between his performances with Atalanta and those with the national team represents the emblem of the “non-play” of our national team. RATING 4.5 THE SOLITUDE OF NUMBER NINES
EL SHAARAWY: He gets a good free kick, then makes too many mistakes. He hits a couple of good balls with his left foot, he deserves a yellow for a bad foul on Schar. Spalletti sacrifices him at half-time after the first-half disaster. VOTE 4.5 GHOST (FROM 46′ ZACCAGNI: He comes in and at least tries to target the opponent. Every time he receives the ball he looks for a one-on-one. He tries to do something, in the Italian disaster it is already something. He flicks it on to Scamacca who from a tight angle hits the post. Why not from the start? VOTE 6 ENIGMA)
ALL. SHOULDERS: He chooses Darmian adapted from left back with El Shaarawy left wing instead of the author of the “miracle” Zaccagni, everyone thinks of a possible 3-5-2 but in reality he insists with the 4-3-3 and on that flank Italy does nothing. Switzerland dominates physically, athletically and tactically with a midfield that is clearly more intense and precise. He unfreezes Mancini and El Shaarawy after zero minutes in three games, he makes “hybrid” choices that lead to nothing. The “scheme” designed for the kick-off used in the second half with Fagioli who throws with his back and gives the go-ahead to the Swiss doubling is difficult to explain. He tries a desperate 4-2-4 with Retegui for Barella halfway through the second half. In the 75th minute with the entry of Cambiaso for Darmian he tries to unblock the left flank a little, but it is not enough. We never shoot and all his choices leave us perplexed. VOTE 4 INCOMPREHENSIBLE
