‘This is who we are’: Italian media give grim assessment of national team’s lopsided defeat against England in their first Euro 2024 qualifier… but head coach Roberto Mancini ESCAPE criticism before the obligatory tie against Malta
- Newcomer Mateo Retegui’s goal is roundly praised, as is the second half
- The head of Corriere dello Sport talks about the ‘Two Italies’ exhibited in Naples
- Azzurri head coach Roberto Mancini still has the support of the Italian press
The Italian media have given a grim assessment of Italy’s performance against England in their 2-1 defeat at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday night.
The 2-1 win against the visitors marked the first time England had won on Italian soil in 62 years.
But despite a lackluster performance, several Italian outlets downplayed the extent of the damage caused by the Three Lions, focusing more on a good recovery after a sloppy first half than on the team’s inability to fight back against 10 ten men after the dispatch of Luke Shaw. out in the second half.
The feeling in Italy is that the weakness of Mancini’s team has magnified England’s merits, despite the traveling team’s superior organization even when playing a man down.
The Italian manager has the support of the Italian press, and on Thursday night Sky Sport Italia was the only outlet to discuss some of the former Manchester City manager’s decision-making mistakes.
‘LITTLE ITALY’: La Gazetta dello Sport offered one of the harshest criticisms of ‘Little Italy’
‘QUESTI SIAMO’: Tutto Sport highlights that ‘this is who we are’ and that the qualifying phase for Euro 2024 has started ‘uphill’
In the Friday papers, the headlines were evenhanded, if a little downcast, about the team’s defeat.
The Gazetto dello Sport mocked his national team as ‘Little Italy’ on the front page on Friday morning, but also noted that after being ‘dominated in the first half’, Mateo Retegui’s goal was an excellent ‘reaction ‘.
So was Italy’s ‘assault’ after Shaw was sent off, but the good performance in the second half ‘wasn’t enough’ to overcome the deficit.
The Tutto Sport headline was the most world-weary, the headline saying ‘This is who we are’.
‘Retegui makes his debut with a goal, but the Azzurri can’t come back after a bad first half. The race for Germany 2024 starts uphill. Sunday in Malta for the rescue,” the caption added, setting up Italy’s next qualifying game in Attard over the weekend.
Another publication that highlighted the impact of Retegui’s goals was Quotidiano Sportivo, whose headline read: ‘Retegui for Italy but little else’.
RETEGUI ITALY MA NON BASTA: Quotidiano Sportivo plays with the descriptive last name of the Argentine-Italian striker Mateo Retegui
DUE ITALIA: Corriere dello Sport told the story of the ‘two Italys’
‘Rete’, the Italian word highlighted at the beginning of the Tigre striker’s name, is a less used term for goal, due to its literal meaning of trap or net.
The Argentine-born striker scored a bright spot in a disappointing performance for Italy, but Corriere Dello Sport was quick to emphasize the ‘Two Italias’ presence on the pitch.
The subtitle also said: ‘Disappointing start and brilliant recovery: Retegui passes [the test]’, noting that Mancini had stated that ‘in the second half, I saw a beautiful selection’.
Retegui made his emphatic debut with a goal in the second half that revitalized Italy
But in the end, Italy was unable to reverse the arrears and England took the spoils.
Led by captain Harry Kane, who became England’s all-time top scorer on the night, England’s consistent performance helped avenge last year’s Euro 2020 final result.
Declan Rice opened the scoring after catching a bounced ball just outside the box that had been dropped after Kane’s first attempt from close range.
Later in the first half, the captain’s historic penalty silenced the historic Napoli stadium.
A shakier second half followed, but England held on to their lead and shot to the top of qualifying Group C.
England will continue their campaign against Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday.