1-1 Zaccagni in the 98:30 minute sends Italy to the round of 16, now Switzerland

Blue shivers of happiness

(Alessandro Pukki sent to Leipzig) everyone’The last breath of a black night And cursed, Little Italy is back from hell Which it fell into due to its limitations and mistakes: ACalafiore’s rash action, Spalletti’s gamble and Zaccagni’s curling shotWho entered in the end, gave the Azzurri a draw that was worth the trip to Berlin, like the 2006 champion, except that then it was the final and now the eighth against Switzerland, next Saturday.

to’1-1 Lucian’s disciples are savedWho in the eighth minute of endless recovery was one step away from a second defeat in a row, as had never happened before in the history of European championships. The burst of pride gets us back on our feet and allows us to continue the arduous journey, but the coach will have to think a lot about this draw. His national team remains small and complex. She has a soul, all right. But this is not enough. It works little or nothing. The old Lions of Croatia surrender when they are now convinced they have succeeded, and Modric’s tears collide with our happiness, which we embrace in an unruly heap, bench included. A miracle saved us, football is like that.

The reaction should only be rewarded once the azure falls. At first, you see little or nothing: neither the game, nor the passion, nor even the interest. Donnarumma continued to play as he did against Spain. The defense is fragile, the midfield is slow, and the attack is inconsistent. Retegui does not scratch the ball, Scamaka misses a goal when he enters. Zaccagni takes care of it, and ends up on the sidelines: his first Italian goal was magic, a flash in the desert. The hope is that this tie, achieved tooth and nail, will cause a shock. Because if Italy finds itself again, the European Championship can still give them a lot of satisfaction.

Spalletti changes three players compared to Spain, but above all, he abandons the 4-1-4-1, which was tested until the last training session at Iserlohn, and switches to a 3-5-2, a conservative version of the 3. -4. -2-1 Tested at Empoli against Bosnia and also before the tour in the United States. The goal is to have more compactness and more supplies for the central attacker. Skamaka, who did not shine, was left to his fate in Gelsenkirchen. It is surprising that the coach changed his attitude on the eve of the match, indicating an internal torment or an attempt, until the end, to surprise Croatia. A bit of advance health tactics. The team also hid it from the players, even inside the stadium’s locker room. So he tries to insert Darmian on the right flank with Bastoni, Calafiore, Di Lorenzo and a restored DeMarco (or at least they should) on the flanks, lowering themselves so much that the defense becomes a five-man defence. Conversely, Pellegrini has to step up but doesn’t do much, and Raspadori, called on to help Retegui, is too light. The beginning is terrifying. Italy, cowering and frightened, steps back and snorts. Croatia immediately tried to use Sučić’s thunderbolt, which was saved by Donnarumma’s usual impressive save. It seems like the beginning of a nightmare evening, but danger awakens the Azzurri, who slowly raises his center of gravity, tries to rebalance possession, tries to exploit players on the flanks and attack deep. Retegui moves a lot, trying with his head and anticipating with his foot, but the opportunity, the best in the first half, comes at Inter’s axis: a cross from Barella and Dink from Bastoni. Livakovic saves with a reflex jump.
The second half, until Zaccagni’s goal, was bitter as bitter. Donnarumma’s miracle, the giant penalty kick by Modric (Fratese’s handball caught by the VAR), was canceled out by the same immortal Croatian’s 10 within one minute, thanks to our negligent defence. Gigio, for a change, performs a half-miracle on Budimir’s claw, once inside, but King Luca is alone and in a good position. Italy, with nothing left to defend, rushes forward. Spalletti, who replaced the retiring Pellegrini with Fratesse at half-time, tried first with Chiesa, then with Scamacca, and finally with Fagioli and Zaccagni. The last change is crucial.