On Saturday evening, the Italian national team surpassed its Albanian counterpart after the latter managed to achieve the fastest goal in the European Nations Cup, so that the defending champion of the last edition won 2-1, in the first round of the competitions. the second group.
Tens of thousands of Albanian fans wearing red shirts rocked Dortmund’s stadium when Nedim Bajermi shot the ball from a tight angle after 23 seconds, taking advantage of a reckless throw-in from defender Federico DeMarco.
This goal broke the previous record, which was held by Russian Dmitry Krichenko, who scored after 67 seconds against Greece. 2004.
But amidst this clamor, Italy maintained its nerve and equalized in the 11th minute, when Alessandro Bastoni scored with a header into the net, after a corner kick taken by Lorenzo Pellegrini towards the far post. Nicolo Barella, who returned to the national team after injury, put Italy ahead five minutes later when he fired the ball into the net from outside the penalty area.
Davide Fratesi almost increased the Italian team’s lead in the 34th minute, but Albanian goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha deflected his shot toward the post.
Although Albania fielded a team full of Italian League players, the team was still chasing ghosts for most of the match, and the young team formed by Italy coach Luciano Spalletti dominated the match with precise and quick passes, but without creating many chances.
Italy’s centre-back Riccardo Calafiore impressed everyone in only his third international appearance, as he replaced more experienced teammates who were eliminated from the squad due to injuries.
“Happy with them”
Spalletti, who led Napoli to win the Italian League title one year ago, took over as coach of the national team last September, when he moved to… Roberto Mancini Excitingly, he coached Saudi Arabia, after he led Italy to win the 2020 European Championship.
Spalletti praised his players for not letting the early defeat get them down. He said: “They were great because they all took part in facing the difficult situation that the team had in front of them and did the right thing. No one raised their arms in the air.” He added: “They showed that they are Strong team On a personal level (on the field). I’m happy with them. But there are a lot of things that need to be improved.”
Albania coach Sylvinho said his players felt nervous as the national team began only its second major tournament. The Brazilian coach added to Sky Sports: “It was not easy for us. We have a group of young players and there was some tension. Italy is a strong team and we fought against them. The players performed well.”
The tournament in Germany is an important starting point for Italy’s hopes of returning to the World Cup, after failing to qualify for the finals in 2018 and 2022. The biggest test for Italy’s credentials will be next Thursday, when it faces Spain It easily won over Croatia 3-0 in Berlin earlier yesterday. Albania will play against Croatia on Wednesday in Group B as well.
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