Marius Bagdonas. Italy – Switzerland: what did I see? | sports

1 observation from the sofa

Both teams entered the fray with already hardened lineups. The Swiss spent exactly the same eleven as in the first game with Wales. Alessandro Florenzi came close to extending the visitors lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass down the middle, but he lifted the ball over Giovanni Di Lorenzo and was a little too high and hit the crossbar.

2 observation from the sofa

The Italians dominated the second game in a row, again repeating three dry goals, even though they had an even better opponent than Turkey against them. As in the first game, R. Mancini’s men took care of everything in the second third of the field, so in Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal Was born He hardly came close.

3 observation from the sofa

Francesco Acerbi, a footballer who was diagnosed with testicular cancer seven years ago, made his European Championship debut at age 33. He had dropped out of his career, gone through a chemotherapy program and overcame a treacherous illness, and on Wednesday he fulfilled another of his dreams.

Breaking point

Second goal. The match unfolded in such a way that with a goal behind, the Swiss could still expect a miracle from the sky. When the Italians scored a second time, it was clear that the guests would end the match empty.

Grand Masters Party

The head coach of the Swiss team Vladimir Petkovičius returned to the stadium, where he achieved his most brilliant victory, when in 2013 he defeated another team from the capital “Roma” in the final of the Italian Cup with Roma “Lazio”. At the time, Lithuanian Marius Stankevičius was also wearing a Lazio jersey.

However, this time the mood was much worse: the opponent was better everywhere and everywhere.

Mancini is not a philosopher of soccer. If, as a footballer, a man from the province of Ancona was not lacking in talent, then his success as a coach was guaranteed by his hard work and pragmatic football. But when the strategist put his brightest compatriots in the most comfortable positions for them, Italy began their impressive streak of undefeated matches.

X Factor

I wonder what the Italians will be like in other stadiums, but playing in their Roma so far is just fantastic. We have seen Italy so dominant in the big tournaments a long, long time ago. Even against the average of European football.

In the spotlight

Manuel Locatelli. Two great goals and another Italian victory. The most interesting thing is that if Euro 2020 had been held last summer, the Italians would not have done it. It wasn’t until August that the footballer received his first invitation to the national team campus and made his successful debut in a match for the Netherlands in Amsterdam a month later. Very solid season “Serie A” with “Sassuolo”, almost 3,000. minutes in the square and Marco Verratti made health problems an integral part of Locatelli and Mancini’s tactical plans.

Marking on Wednesday, he also wrote in the Italian soccer yearbooks. Throughout the history of football in this country, there are only two younger scorers in the big tournaments for a 23-year-old footballer: Giacomo Bulgarelli (1962) and Mario Balotelli (2012).

Disaster

Giorgio Chiellini made a magnificent shot in the 18th minute with a direct shot at goal after a long pass through the middle, but one of the visiting defenders put a foot in the last second and cleared it for a corner. A few minutes later, the mood of the Juventus representative in Turin became even more subdued: he had to leave the field due to an injury and Francesco Acerbi left the place.

Critical arrow

It goes to the Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Two shots from M. Locatelli and Ciro Immobile missed from far away. The Italians struck without problems, but at least once Menchengladbach’s “Borussia” goalkeeper was able to save.

Sweet couple

The Sassuolo boys scored the first Squadra Azzurros goal for the Italian team in the 26th minute. Dominico Berardi made a good effort to push his way down the right, but the home side’s left defense cleared the ball for a corner. For him, it was his second goal with the Italian team. He quickly scored the third.

A man with a whistle

The debut of the best Russian judge Sergei Karasiov in this championship. “It was not lost” in Lorenzo Insigne’s attempt to score a penalty, with the help of the VAR he annulled G.Chiellini’s goal when he played a hand. After that, the goals started to fall in one direction and controlling the match without tension became much easier and easier.

Intrigue / boredom meter

70 percent. There was no lack of intrigue in the first minutes, as it was interesting for everyone to see what the Italians would look like and if the first game with the Turks was not an accident. However, Squadra Azzurra dispelled the intrigue very quickly, scoring goals and completely dominating. From the second goal, the game became a formality: some no longer needed it, others no.

Vibration in the stands

8/10. The soccer festival continues in the Italian capital. The Italian team are delighted with a great game, so the mood of the fans in the Apennines is fantastic this summer. When you play well The National – And the Italian days are so much brighter So far, the nation can be justifiably proud of its team, as can the fans gathered at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Number

29 – The Italian team has not lost 29 matches in a row and R. Mancini is only one match lost to match the legendary coach of this country Vittorio Pozzo. The last time the Italians fell was in September 2018 against Portugal.

The word is not a sparrow

“I want to share this success with the whole team, because above all we are a wonderful team. I give the first goal to my family, the second to the Italian fans, ”said match star M. Locatelli after the match.

Historical inconsistencies

Throughout the history of the European Championship, only one team has started with three wins by three goals: the Netherlands, who defeated Italy 3: 0 in 2008, and then France 4: 1.

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