Nicolò Barella has regrets after Italy fumbled a lead to lose 3-1 in England and put their EURO 2024 qualification in doubt. ‘We could’ve made more of our chances.’
The Nazionale had hope of another Wembley miracle when taking the lead through Gianluca Scamacca’s first goal, but Harry Kane’s penalty, a Marcus Rashford counter-attack and final Kane solo effort turned it around.
“We played well in the first half and could’ve made more of our chances. It was a balanced match and we made mistakes, so you get punished at this level,” Barella told RAI and Sky Sport Italia.
“Considering the quality in our squad, we need to be more confident on the field, we must try to make the most of their errors the way they did with ours. It’s disappointing, because we had the chances to do better.”
It is the first defeat under new coach Luciano Spalletti, who was rushed into the job after Roberto Mancini suddenly resigned in mid-August.
“Let us not forget this is a new team, we must win to reach the Euros, so we have no time to adapt. We must do better than we did today, because we have the potential.”
It allows Ukraine to leapfrog the Azzurri in the group, even though Italy still have a game in hand to be played against North Macedonia.
The final match is a showdown with Ukraine on neutral turf in Leverkusen, but if the worst comes to the worst, Italy are still guaranteed a play-off place after winning their Nations League group.
“It’s a pity that it goes down to the last match, but we have strong players and need to get the victories. We’ve been in these situations many times before, we must bring the best out of ourselves and we will play our game.”
Well Barella, maybe if you played for Italy like you do for Inter, we might have a more effective contribution from you. Please pull your finger out or give your spot to someone else who will try harder. You are a shadow of the player for Italy that you are for Inter.
Barilla, talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Italy’s back four are pathetic with no leadership in sight. When you keep on always backing up that shows that you are inferior and lack the basic challenging defensive skills. God help Italy 🇮🇹 to qualify.