Euro 2024 preview: A closer look at Italy
Can Italy retain their European Championship crown?
Italy are not among the favourites in Germany.
The holders qualified after finishing second in Group C behind England, the key game being a goalless draw with Ukraine in Germany. At Euro 2024, Italy will play Albania, Spain and Croatia in one of the toughest groups of the tournament.
Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, the defensive duo that led Italy to glory in 2021, will watch from home. Nicolò Barella and Gianluigi Donnarumma need to step up and become the key players for the team. They will have to cope without Destiny Udogie, Nicolò Zaniolo, Francesco Acerbi, and Giorgio Scalvini, who are all out injured.
Iconic Euros moments: Throwback to England v Italy (2021)
How did they reach Germany?
They qualified for Euro 2024 after a goalless draw against Ukraine in Germany. This was a welcome relief for everyone within Italian football after they failed to reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The qualifying campaign for this summer's tournament wasn't easy and involved two defeats against England.
Luis, an Italy fan, told us: "It hasn't been a great few years since we won Euro 2020. However, we managed to qualify for this competition. I am always confident we can beat everyone on the biggest stage."
ECQ: Italy 1 - 2 England (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)
A closer look at the coach
Luciano Spalletti will take the national team to a major tournament for the first time. In the last two decades, he led Roma, Zenit, Roma again, Internazionale and Napoli, winning a scudetto and two Russian titles. At 65, he has the body of a man in his 50s and no fear to take unpopular decisions. Spalletti has used a 3-4-2-1 and a 4-3-3 formation, a similar approach to the one taken by Mancini during his tenure, but he is stricter than his predecessor.
A player to watch
Doin' the Davide Frattesi jump and dance 🕺#INTERGALACTIC⭐⭐ pic.twitter.com/g4MVCLNWte
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) May 19, 2024
Davide Frattesi could be the next big thing in Italian football. In his first season with Inter, he played only a few games as a starter but scored six Serie A goals and was crucial in the comeback in Lisbon against Benfica (from 3-0 to 3-3) in November. In the qualifiers with the Azzurri, he was the man of the match in the key home game against Ukraine. He attracted criticism during the Milan derby played in September, when, with Inter leading 4-1, he shushed Rafa Leão before making it 5-1. Many Italian fans will believe he has the confidence to shine in Germany.
An Italian icon
Gianluigi Donnarumma, standing still as a statue with a subtle smile after saving Bukayo Saka's penalty, is one of the most iconic images of Italy’s Euro 2020 victory. He has had a strong season at PSG and has become accustomed to facing criticism.
After Euro 2020 was concluded, UEFA's team of Technical Observers named Donnarumma as their Player of the Tournament. You'd have to say that he deserved that award.
🚫 3 clean sheets, 9 saves
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 11, 2021
😮 Semi-finals penalty shoot-out hero
😱 Final penalty shoot-out hero
UEFA's team of Technical Observers have named Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as their Player of the Tournament 🇮🇹👏#EURO2020 | #ITA pic.twitter.com/HWGnaHLGkK
Will their lack of a striker be a problem?
The striker problem in particular seems to be endemic within the genetics of Italian football, having also concerned the youth teams. Mancini won Euro 2020 with only two goals from Ciro Immobile, his starting striker, and Spalletti’s quest for a centre-forward lasted months. Can Gianluca Scamacca or Mateo Retegui be the heir of Paolo Rossi, Totò Schillaci, Christian Vieri? They are the strikers who wrote history in the Italian shirt.
