Federico Chiesa “knew losing to Poland was very damaging” to their European U21 Championship and all Italy can do now is wait and hope.
The Azzurrini beat both Spain and Belgium 3-1, but the 1-0 defeat to Poland put all three teams on six points and the three-way goal difference put Italy second.
Federico Chiesa “knew losing to Poland was very damaging” to their European U21 Championship and all Italy can do now is wait and hope.
The Azzurrini beat both Spain and Belgium 3-1, but the 1-0 defeat to Poland put all three teams on six points and the three-way goal difference put Italy second.
Only the three group winners and the best runner-up go through to the semi-final and the chances are slim for the hosts.
“All we can do is wait and hope,” Chiesa told Rai Sport.
“We knew that losing to Poland was very damaging to our hopes of qualification. We gave our all today and I think we also had a good performance against Poland, but didn’t take our chances and conceded an avoidable goal.
“We did all we could, it’s a pity that again we conceded today to a phenomenal goal from the Belgian player, I tip my hat to him.”
Gigi Di Biagio’s job is inevitably on the line, as Italy were meant to be one of the favourites, especially as they are hosting.
“The Coach said he was proud to be working with us, that we’d done well and it’ll be a real pity if we don’t manage to qualify.”