New Delhi: Spain played out an entertaining and thrilling encounter against Italy at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. La Roja edged the Azzurri with a narrow 1-0 win, ensuring they will make it to the knockout stages as the group winners. Spain were the dominant side for the entire game as they always looked to trouble the defending champions throughout the match.
The match was off to a brisk start as both teams were neck-to-neck in their display, providing the fans with an entertaining first half even though the game remained scoreless. The Spanish side were on top of the Italians for the entire half but the Italian defence was rock solid and were always present to thwart the Spanish attacks. Spain were being forced to rely on multiple long shots to test Donnarumma’s goal and the Italian captain was on hand to stop anything his centre-backs couldn’t contain.
The game was evenly matched in the first half but Spain just took the ball in the second half and ran with it. The breakthrough came in the 55th minute as the deadlock was finally broken when Nico William’s cross was headed towards the goal by Alvaro Morata but Donnarumma was present to parry the ball away. However, the ball went towards a falling Riccardo Calafiori, ricocheted off his knee and went to hit the back of the net. It was an unfortunate way for Italy to concede after some world-class defending and goalkeeping from them, but Spain finally got their well-deserved lead.
Spain looked for the second goal throughout the rest of the game but none of the Spanish players could find the back of the net and they’d be looking to rectify that for the upcoming knockout stages. Meanwhile, Italy would want to address their goalscoring vulnerabilities before their crucial match against Croatia, which could decide how deep they go into this tournament.
1) Spain’s attack: Close but no cigar
Nico Williams left winger of Spain and Athletic Club Bilbao lament a failed occasion during the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Spain and Italy at Arena AufSchalke on June 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Spain were an extremely silky side to watch today as they were attacking at Donnarumma’s goal from all sides, causing the Italians all sorts of trouble. Alvaro Morata, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal were always around the penalty box, testing the goalkeeper and keeping the Italian defence on their toes.
Not only the attackers but also Fabian Ruiz and Rodri were testing Donnarumma with some long-range efforts that looked like they would go in. However, that was not to be. For all of Spain’s attack and dominance, none of the Spanish players could find the back of the net. They put in a dominant performance but could very well been going out with a draw from this game had luck not been on their side.
2) Italy’s striking woes proved costly
GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY – JUNE 20: Riccardo Calafiori of Italy looks dejected with teammates after conceding an own goal, the first goal for Spain, during the UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match between Spain and Italy at Arena AufSchalke on June 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Italy’s lack of strikers is a problem that has been well-documented ever since Immobile’s exclusion from the Italian national team. Luciano Spalletti decided to leave out the veteran forward and chose to select Gianluca Scamacca, Giacomo Raspadori, and Mateo Retegui as the only recognized forwards in his squad.
Both Retegui and Raspadori had underwhelming scoring numbers for Genoa and Napoli scoring only 9 and 5 goals respectively. Scamacca had a brilliant season for Atalanta as they won the UEFA Europa League but has only ever scored a single goal for his national team.
His goalscoring woes for Italy cost them today as well as he looked lost throughout the match and wasn’t anywhere to be seen on the pitch. Even when Retegui replaced the Atlanta forward, there was no improvement in Italy’s display and that proved costly as they couldn’t get a sniff of goal throughout the match.
3) Spain’s Future looks bright with Yamal and Williams
Both Yamal and Williams were a menace for the Italian defence (Photo by Maciej Rogowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Spain’s attacking duo of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were terrorizing the Italian defence throughout the game, causing them trouble at multiple points in the game. Both the young stars went close to scoring for their national side on multiple occasions and Spain look a formidable side with these two youngsters in their starting lineup.
Lamal, 16 years old and Williams 21 years old, seem primed to carry Spain’s attack for years to come as both have the talent and ability to start for La Roja regularly in upcoming major tournaments. If they continue the kind of form they’ve shown in the first two games, teams would be scared to face these two regularly.
The key aspect they need to keep in mind if they want to continue with this form is that they can’t let the fame get to their heads as we have witnessed multiple youngsters that got carried away after earning fame at a young age and couldn’t keep their form up consistently such as Christian Tello and Munir El Haddadi.
Spain are now through to the knockout rounds with a 1-0 win over Italy courtesy of a Riccardo Calafiori own goal. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
