Italy restarts with a prestigious victory. After the disastrous European Championship, the National team opened this group stage of the Nations League by beating France 3-1 at the Parc des Princes. The victory in Paris against the transalpines is a feat that has been missing for 70 years, the result of a match in which Spalletti’s eleven proved to be much more of a team than the hosts: “The lads were good at adapting to any situation, the lads fought and gave their all. They showed tough stuff from a physical point of view because they are beasts from a physical point of view. We were a team at any moment of the match, in any situation. Then you have to be lucky when you make substitutions but Udogie can really play as a midfielder. And then Dimarco knows how to play football, you can really put him anywhere”, declared the coach in a press conference.
Spalletti started again from 3-5-1-1, from a defensive formation that will never change again: “Regardless of how this match would have gone, we would have continued like this forever.” The difference against France was the low formation and a midfield numerically much larger than the opponent’s. Above all, the reaction of the group after Di Lorenzo’s mistake that allowed Barcola, after just 14 seconds, to unlock the match: “A goal conceded in that way can drive you crazy and therefore we were doubly good to have stayed in the game.”
With the first match now behind us, the national team will fly to Hungary in a few hours to prepare for the match against Israel, a match that will take place on Monday evening at the Bozsik Arena in Budapest.