Italy’s lack of discipline causes the Azzurrini to crumble in the first game of the group stage
Gli Azzurrini, or ‘Little Blues’ come into this tournament looking to win it for a record sixth time. After making the final but falling to Spain 4-2, two years ago, there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the history of this tournament.
In the first half, Italy immediately took control with face paced attacks, quick and crisp passing and lethal counterattacks. In the 28th minute, Federico Viviani sent a through ball to Palermo forward Andrea Belotti who was fouled by Swedish defender Milosevic, who was sent off and Italy awarded a penalty.
On loan Sassuolo forward Domenico Berardi, who had looked very promising prior to the penalty, slotted it home to the right and Italy went up 1-0.
The Italians continued to maintain possession, which has become apparent that the Azzurrini will use this strength to their advantage and the first half came to a close with the scoreline remaining the same.
The second half started poorly for the Italians, Guidetti struck home an effort from point blank range following a corner and some dastard defending from Sturaro.
Still, with a man advantage and few new faces on the pitch in the form of Verdi, Trotta and Cataldi, the Italians looked poised to regain the lead.
Italy’s 4-3-3 formation gave plenty of room for Domenico Berardi to work his magic. On more than one occasion, the Italians’ corner routine involved an effort from well beyond the 18 yard box from the Sassuolo man.
However, in the dying minutes of the game, Sturaro lost his cool following some unsportsmanlike conduct from Ishak. The referee immediately sent off the Juventus player after he put his hand to his face.
Moments later after the sending off, Bardi gave away a penalty in where he knows he could have done better. The Swedes would eventually convert the penalty and hold on to beat the Italians.
Italy coach Luigi Di Biagio will take away more negatives than positives today. Defensive mistakes, lack of discipline and failing to score a goal from the flow of play will leave him concerned in what very well may have been the easiest match of the game.
The Azzurrini certainly will need to keep cooler heads in the next match, something they failed to do today against Sweden, which certainly hindered their ability to bounce back after Guidetti’s equalizer.
Looking at the squad list, it seems very probable that Di Biagio could change around a few players, as Battocchio, Bianchetti, Viviani and Bardi all had far from their top performances.
On Sunday, when Italy play Portugal it will be important to see how they bounce back and who starts the game for the Azzurrini.
Far from a perfect display in the Czech Republic, Italy will need to lick their wounds fast if they have any desire to qualify to the semi-finals and to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
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