The Italian national team officially removes the crown of “European Champions”. The regional squadron lost 2:0 to the impressive Switzerland tonight (Saturday) and ended a dismal tournament in the round of 16, after a narrow victory over Albania, a dramatic draw against Croatia and unconditional losses to Spain and Switzerland. This is the third time in a row that the champion is eliminated in the round of 16.
Luciano Spalletti and his players deserve every word of criticism they will hear or read in the coming days. Italy’s weakness led to their elimination, but that in no way diminishes the plaudits for Switzerland, who advanced to the quarter-finals for the second time in a row and also beat Italy for the first time since May 1993. Directly following the group stage, the Reds were better today and got a deserved victory. In the quarter-finals (Saturday, 19:00, Dusseldorf) they will play in the quarter-finals against England or Slovakia.
The first half was all about Switzerland and only Gianluigi Donnarumma stood between them and a higher score at the break. The Reds looked more organized, more focused, more trained, more attacking – simply a much better team than Italy. While the players in blue looked confused, almost like a group of players meeting for the first time, Switzerland played smart, got into situations and, as mentioned, stopped the opposing goalkeeper, one of the best players in this Euro so far.
The second half opened with the Swiss 0:2, which actually closed the story. From that moment Italy had more possession of the ball and became the one who initiates. The ball even hit Jan Sommer’s crossbar twice, but the Azuri didn’t really threaten to come back. Switzerland adjusted its substitutions to the opponent’s changes and made Italy Italy. Smart closing, disarming possible mines and smart transfer of the minutes until the final whistle.
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