The Italian national team’s trip to the USA can be considered a success in terms of results. But like the recent 2-1 win against Venezuela in the US state of Florida, there was a lot of room for improvement in terms of play in the current 2-0 win against Ecuador in New Jersey.
On this international match weekend of very early goals – Austria scored after just six seconds in the 2-0 win against Slovakia, Germany after eight seconds in the celebrated 2-0 win against France – Italy’s selection also joined in on Sunday.
Although it took a little longer here: in the test against Ecuador during the trip to the USA, 120 seconds were over before Dimarco put a free kick into the wall, the ball bounced back into the feet of Lorenzo Pellegrini – and the Roma captain fired without a hitch. His hard-hitting shot shot into the net, unstoppable, at the top right of the post, meaning Italy took the lead early on.
Dimarco and Zaniolo miss great opportunities
The 1-0 was well deserved because the Squadra Azzurra had control of the game from the start, pushed forward and undermined La Tri’s defense a few times. But especially Dimarco, with a header chance from the best position (6th minute) and Zaniolo from close range, free in front of goalkeeper Burrai, who had spread out and parried (16th), missed great opportunities.
Over time, the Ecuadorians also learned to, firstly, become more and more secure defensively, secondly, to act more aggressively in the duels and, thirdly, to push hard a few times. But the team of national coach Felix Sanchez Bas (in office since the beginning of March 2023) around the Bundesliga players Hincapie from leaders Leverkusen and Pacho a Eintracht Frankfurt as well as Moises Caicedo from Chelsea FC did not develop enough impact in the end. There was a lack of the final pass and the necessary esprit.
And so it remained 1-0 at the break, also because the Italian team, which had been rebuilt in all eleven places compared to the most recent 2-1 against Venezuela – including Retegui, who was celebrated for his excellent goalscoring rate, was on the bench – did not do so as the game progressed had developed too many ideas in attacking play.
Barella ends the game on a fine note
Phase two started for the reigning European champions, who will face Spain, Croatia and Albania in the difficult Group B at the European Championships in Germany this summer (June 14th to July 14th), as phase one had ended: with playful lean food. The Spalletti protégés no longer knew how to pose a real threat or how to really run the ball cleanly.
And so the outsider, who pushed hard and acted with determination, was able to believe more and more in the 1:1. But Franco (52nd), Plata (68th) who failed with a shot that was too central to Italy’s debutant Vicario from Tottenham Hotspur, and an extremely weak 4-on-2 counterattack (77th) all had one thing in common: La Tri was missing in the front third in accuracy, in inventiveness, in target water.
In the end, Squadra Azzurra’s mostly stable defense didn’t let anything go wrong, ended this test without conceding a goal – and were able to celebrate the final score of 2-0 in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Joker Orsolini put the ball wonderfully into Barella’s path with a leg shot – and the Inter Milan man scored boldly and delicately with a lob over goalkeeper Burrai (90th + 4).