Straight
Italy got their difficult European Championship qualification back on track with a 5-2 win over Macedonia. Victory obscures the passage through a ring of fire. Because Macedonia, the rival that had eliminated Italy in the qualifying playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar, scored two goals, increased the game to 3-2 and was about to come back in an atmosphere full of tension in the Olympic Stadium in Rome, this Friday Night. Now it’s enough for Italy to get a draw against Ukraine on the final matchday of Group C next Monday to secure second place, which offers a direct ticket, and overcome the trauma that has plagued them since the 12th November 2017, on November 12, 2017 in Am Before the play-off against Sweden, captain Buffon made the damning statement: “We Italians have committed ourselves to the World Cup.” The next day, Italy was excluded from the World Cup in Russia and Buffon announced his retirement.
5
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Federico Gatti, Acerbi, Dimarco, Darmian, Bonaventura (Davide Frattesi, min. 62), Jorginho (Cristante, min. 62), Barella, Federico Chiesa (Nicolo Zaniolo, min. 61), Giacomo Raspadori (Gianluca Scamacca, Min. 89) and Berardi (El Shaarawy, Min. 76)
2
Dimitrievski, Nikola Serafimov, Musliu, Jovan Manev, Agon Elezi, Ademi (Jani Atanasov, Min. 45), Bojan Dimoski, Alioski, Enis Bardhi, Elmas (Churlinov, Min. 72) and Bojan Miovski
Goals 1-0 min. 16: Darmian. 2:0 minutes. 41: Federico Chiesa. 3:0 minutes. 47: Federico Chiesa. 3-1 min 51: Jani Atanasov. 3-2 min. 73: Jani Atanasov. 4-2 min 80: Giacomo Raspadori. 5-2 mins 93: El Shaarawy.
referee Felix Zwayer
Yellow cards Nicolo Zaniolo (Min. 71), Churlinov (Min. 78), Askovski (Min. 80), Milan Ristovski (Min. 83), Milevski (Min. 84), Nikola Serafimov (Min. 86) and Acerbi (Min .86) . 89)
“We walk alongside fear,” Spalletti warned this week. It was enlightening. Top-flight football is a scary game, but its protagonists rarely rationalize it, let alone in public. Nervousness, fear and even panic silently follow the players behind every control of the ball, especially when a nation pins all hopes on a victory that is recognized as a right earned by tradition.
After two tragic eliminations that ruled Italy out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and with Italy teetering perilously toward further disaster on the doorstep of the 2024 European Championships, Luciano Spalletti, appointed coach last summer amid a results crisis, knew his job was up As head of the national team, his main aim was to combat the terror felt by his players at being accused of being responsible for another historic failure. Far from using euphemisms, he stated the problem loudly: Here is the horror. He immediately showed the way to the solution. Courage to ask for the ball and pass it sensibly through a circle in which the order is determined by selecting the men with the strongest temperament. First Jorginho, the helmsman, then Chiesa, one of those wingers who multiply a hundredfold, and finally Raspadori, Napoli’s mobile striker, a real false nine, another disguised midfielder. Against Macedonia, Spalletti discovered another support due to injury: Federico Gatti, the 25-year-old central defender from Juventus. A daring thing.
Thanks to the sure feet of Jorginho and the bravery of Chiesa, the team broke the physical and psychological pressure that Macedonia and the atmosphere put on them. Missing out due to injury in the March 23, 2022 play-off, which Macedonia won at La Favorite in Palermo, the fiery Federico Chiesa showed everything a grueling game required in Rome. The Juventus winger, the son of Enrico, the fantastic striker of Fiorentina and Roma, is a rare case of the genetic transmission of aggressiveness from the sainted father to the rich son from birth. It never hides. It never calms down. He never considers a task to be solved before he tackles it. He comes to the call first. Acquired rights are not taken over. He also has no inhibitions when they chase him with kicks, like Bojan Dimoski did, paralyzing his right thigh with a knee in the first minutes of the night. Chiesa insisted on the left wing, lame until he was substituted after an hour, but was important at crucial moments.
The corner that made it 1-0 came from Chiesa, the work of Darmian, with a header, and Chiesa made it 2-0 after one of those moments that seem to indicate some kind of curse. It was around the 40th minute when the referee announced a penalty for handball and Jorginho went to the penalty spot with a ton on his shoulders. The entire public knew that a penalty missed by Jorginho in the same goal against Sweden in 2022 had taken Italy to the fateful La Favortia play-offs. And of course Jorginho didn’t take his best shot. Dimitravski, the Rayo goalkeeper, sensed his intention by projecting himself to his left post and the score remained 1-0. At least another minute. The time it took for Chiesa to meet a ball from outside the penalty area and send it into the net, along with the whole feeling of failure that threatened to overwhelm his teammates, distressed by Jorginho’s failure.
Spalletti scales
As excited as he was, Chiesa made it 3-0 in the last minute of extra time, before half-time. Around the 60th minute, when the game was somewhat underway, Spalletti made changes, thinking about the crucial match against Ukraine. The first, the tired Jorginho, who doesn’t play much for Arsenal and is currently in form; Chiesa, who was obviously limping, and Bonaventura.
Spalletti assumed that with the less capable players it would be enough to maintain the lead against Macedonia and at the same time retain strength for the duel with Ukraine. He was on the verge of destroying everything he had achieved. Substitutes Cristante, Frattesi and Zaniolo failed to gain control of the game against some completely unrestrained Macedonians. While Atanasov’s first goal brought out hidden nerves, the second caused a stir in the stands. The fans were perplexed when Raspadori scored the relief goal. El Shaarawy followed him with the fifth, the last in a night of liberation.
“Macedonia’s second goal was an accident,” said Spalletti; “And our response deserves to be highlighted. “We played well for 90 minutes.”
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