It is a two-faced Italy that loses against England (one to two). A team of ghosts, in the first half, the ghosts of a past glory, now distant, of a game that goes out inside his soul, unable to create goal chances, which is the only true meaning of football. But in the other 45 minutes this team transformsbecomes neither beautiful nor irresistible like the one that had made us dream in the summer of Wembley, but warm the hearts because he makes up for his shortcomings with courage and running, winning the duels he used to always lose, crushing the English in their own half and preventing them from restarting. He shortened the distances Retegui, who wasn’t so brilliant but he knew how to seize the moment, and that’s no small thing. The substitutions of Berardi and Jorginho were decisive, the worst in the field. But that’s not what matters. In the end, the impression is that all this is not enough, that we need to go one step further, we need to change. Mancini has chosen to rely on the men of the past, and perhaps it is not that he could have done otherwise, having considered it too risky to revolutionize his group. But time is merciless and never forgives. The midfield was Italy’s strength. Now that’s his weakness.
It began with the images of Vialli, and Italy would have loved to dedicate the victory to him. But reading the formations lined up at Maradona, it’s not like one could have too many illusions. It is the first Italy without Juventus players, as if it were strongly marked by Gravina. She is 29 years old on average, a bit tall. Chiellini and Bonucci are missing, the pillars of defense, old worn out armor that no longer protects against enemy darts. There are Verratti and Jorginho, but they are two unrecognizable survivors, also victims of the most merciless law there is: that of age. There is Church, which was one of the best in that glorious Wembley summer. And above all, judging by the recent cursus honorum of this national team, the heir of a great area striker is missing, a now withered school that has left us only an exceptional counter-attacker like Ciro Immobile. Without two gladiators full of medals covering your back giving you security, replaced by the Acerbi Toloi couple, 67 years old together, not exactly young men, without that Verratti and that Jorginho, and without the can-opener raids of the Church, there is the risk that the game with which Santo Mancio had built that little European miracle is also missing. The coach, who at least has always had the courage to find budding champions even before they tried the grim markings of Serie A like Zaniolo, relies on Mateo Retegui, a rookie caught in Argentina, even compared to the young Batistuta on the eve. Too much grace. Let’s hope so. Whoever doesn’t have these problems is Southgate, who can do without Rashford and leave Abraham and Sterling at home, so much up front he can count on Kane, 53 goals in 80 games, and a battery of young players to make the world envious, from Saka in Bellingham, allowing himself the luxury of keeping Phil Foden, Manchester City’s natural talent, on the bench.
But at the beginning, Italy seemed to be back in the good old days, at least in intentions, under pressure on the English to look for quick triangulations and courageous game plots, in Mancini’s DNA. First on a free-kick from Jorginho, Di Lorenzo svirgola a bit by leaning on Pickford, then Retegui sends his header wide. The will was there. But England has not been watching. In the 8th minute a raid by Saka was thwarted without problems, and three minutes later a fan from outside the area by Bellingham called Donnarumma to intervene in the corner, with a plastic flight. On the dangerous melee corner, Kane tries and on the rebuttal Rice doesn’t forgive: zero to one. The English play covered, trying to exploit the spaces left free in our rear. In this phase, the Azzurri suffer in particular from the pressure of Bellingham who moves across the pitch and the variety of Kane, almost like an advanced playmaker, to launch insertions from behind. Italy attacked, but the most dangerous action was still for the visitors when Bellingham narrowly missed Kane’s low cross. Then, following a bullshit from Jorginho, Philips flies off all alone and touches the post to Donnarumma’s right. It’s Italy? Nothing. Just a few empty crosses from Spinazzola. Up front, poor Retegui was canceled by Maguire’s iron marking. He only shows up on a counterattack, when he tries to break free for a shot, but without success. Immediately afterwards on a cross in the blue area, instead, touch of the hand with the wide arm of Di Lorenzo: penalty. And two to zero from Kane. A minute later, in the 45th minute, the English centre-forward went away again and served all alone in front of the empty goal Grealish, who incredibly managed to send the ball out. The first half ends like this. And unfortunately the result does not lie. On the contrary. The doubts of the eve are confirmed by the field, without exception: after Chiellini and Bonucci nothing, Acerbi and Toloi, shaky and uncertain, do not give any security. Jorginho and Verratti look like two ex-footballers in a game of old glories, and the former Chelsea player is downright disastrous, losing one ball after another. In attack, our crisis seems irreversible: who saw Berardi?, and Retegui seems impalpable, but the truth is that it’s not his fault, given that not many balls arrive in his area.
The recovery
In the second half, when the game resumed, the formation was confirmed. We try with some corner kicks, then Verratti takes care of fiddling with the ball to launch the English on the counterattack and force Toloi into a killer intervention (not even a yellow card). Everything like in the first half? Maybe not. In the 5th minute the blues suddenly blaze, but Pellegrini shoots for the stars in the area. And immediately afterwards he, Pellegrini, invents a splendid pass for Retegui in front of Pickford and the rookie, freed by the marking of Maguire who had gone to midfield to beat Barella, made no mistake. At this point Mancini changes: Berardi finally out and Politano in, while Cristante replaces a limping Barella. Italy now pushes and Gnonto and Tonali also enter from the bench (in place of Pellegrini and Jorginho). Southgate instead recalls Grealish and sends Foden onto the field. There are 15 minutes to go and Italy begins the siege. In the 77th minute Gnonto sends a poisonous ball into the center which Politano narrowly misses a meter from the goal line. And a minute later Retegui tries to sprint ball and chain, with the prairie clear in front of him, but is brought down by Shaw, who had just been booked. The referee thinks about it for a while, then draws out the second yellow card. Ten Englishmen. And the siege becomes even more insistent, with the English retreating all to garrison the network defended by Pickford, in the most classic of provincial bolts. The Azzurri create one scrum after another, but nobody shoots on goal. In the end it’s a defeat that hurts, not because it’s unfair, but because of this second half in the boarding, very different from the first, because of the heart he put into it, for showing that when you fight and run you can do it even if you are less strong.