Italy Scrapes Through to Euro 2024 Round of 16
Italy managed to secure its place in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 with a last-minute equalizer against Croatia. Defender Riccardo Calafiori's breakthrough and striker Mattia Zaccagni's finesse goal provided a much-needed relief for the reigning European champions. Despite their qualification, Italy's performance in the group stage has been far from convincing, with a narrow victory against Albania, a defeat to Spain, and a miraculous draw with Croatia.
Italy's Challenges and Prospects in Euro 2024
Coach Luciano Spalletti emphasized the need for improvement, stating, 'We need to do more, much more. We were too timid in the first half, we need more courage.' The upcoming match against Switzerland poses a significant challenge, as the Swiss team has shown consistent performance, remaining unbeaten in their group. Italy's path to the finals includes potential matches against Slovakia, England, Austria, Turkey, the Netherlands, or Romania. Defender Alessandro Buongiorno acknowledged the difficulty of the upcoming match, highlighting Switzerland's strengths and the overall competitiveness of the tournament.
- Belgian star and former footballer Remco Evenepoel, while attending a press conference for the Tour de France, confidently predicted a 4-0 victory for Belgium against France in their round of 16 match at Euro 2024. Evenepoel compared the UAE Emirates cycling team to Real Madrid in football, emphasizing their strength.
- The Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will officiate the Italy-Switzerland match in Berlin, with an all-Polish refereeing team, except for the fourth official, Argentine Facundo Tello, and German Bastian Dankert as assistant collaborator at VAR.
