Italy-Finland 4-0: Azzurri qualify for Euro 2025

Mission accomplished. Andrea Sunesen’s Italy crush Finland (4-0) and cross the finish line for direct qualification for the Swiss Euro 2025 (July 2-27), thus avoiding the dreaded qualifying trap. A joy that cannot be taken for granted, given recent disappointments (the very bitter World Cup in New Zealand last summer, the last act of the Bertolini administration), and the pitfalls of the quartet in which the Azzurri had already finished first. place (thanks to contemporary 1-1 Norway and the Netherlands).

strength test

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To go to the European Championship without calculations, Bolzano needed to overcome the new Milan player Koivisto and his teammates, who were able to win the first leg and were still in the race for qualification. An exercise, in the end, resolved with determination and ferocity already in the first half. After the initial slip – a great chance fell to Oling (4 minutes) after an incorrect clearance by Linari – Italy attacked the game with two deadly goals. In the 20th minute Beccari broke the deadlock, with his first goal for the national team, with a header in the small area – Tamminen badly, preferring between the posts to the former Roma player Corbella – after a curved cross from the right by Giuliano. And it was the same Roma player, after the decisive pass, who opportunistically scored the second goal shortly after the half-hour mark: Italy attack the area with several players, launch the rebounds and win them all, because they are more eager to put the ball in the goal. Goal. The scoreboard with 2-0 and a look to the sky, with a dedication to Fabio Melillo (former coach of Ternana and Roma Primavera, who passed away in recent days) is also remembered in the minute of reflection. A deserved double lead, a fleeting glimpse of superiority that makes (in hindsight) the defeat in Helsinki in April completely incomprehensible. In the second half, the Azzurri maintained their complete control, recharged with substitutions and closed the score: from Cantori to Campiaghi (both substitutes) for the Inter striker to make it 3-0, with Cantori herself having two chances to reduce the deficit. Finland play poker alone, with Nystrom’s own goal. And on the most important night, Italy also found that confidence with the goal they had missed in the previous five qualifying matches (in which they had scored four goals). And Sunsen, after the unexpected salvation in League A of the Nations League, scores another goal. Even more important. Not bad for a coach who took his first steps in women’s football less than a year ago.

Gravina

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“What joy for the Azzurri! – the immediate comment of the president of the Italian Federation, Gabriele Gravina -, this success represents the culmination of a series of exceptional performances in a very complex qualifying group. The path of growth began with the choice of Sonsin as coach “The national team was unstoppable and led the Azzurri constantly among the strongest teams in Europe. Congratulations to him, his staff and above all to the girls who wrote a beautiful page of Italian football with quality, professionalism and character”.