Nicolò Barella celebrated his first game as Italy captain by scoring a rare goal in the 2-0 win over Ecuador. ‘This is a new start’ under Luciano Spalletti.
The Azzurri completed their brief American tour with an early Lorenzo Pellegrini strike from outside the box and the delicate Barella lob on Riccardo Orsolini’s assist in stoppages.
“Perhaps we suffered a bit too much in the second half, considering our quality, but that helped us and me to keep back that energy for the final sprint and joy of scoring a goal,” Barella told RAI Sport.
It was a totally different starting XI to the side that defeated Venezuela 2-1 on Thursday with two goals from Mateo Retegui, including debuts for Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and Torino winger Raoul Bellanova.
Above all, it was the second match under a new 3-4-2-1 formation, a break from the 4-3-3 that allowed Italy to win the EURO 2020 tournament under Roberto Mancini.
“Aside from the system, this is a new start. We are getting to grips with what the coach asks of us, we are improving, there is more work to do, but we are creating a good group with lads who want to give their all. Without that, it would be futile.”
Barella wore the captain’s armband for the first time, as he was the player in the starting XI with the most caps, this being his 52nd match.
Usually Gianluigi Donnarumma is the captain, but he was on the bench in favour of Vicario.