Italy still have a shot of reaching the knock-out stages of Euro 2022 but it’ll come down to their last group game against Belgium following a tough 1-1 draw with Iceland this evening.
The two sides met at the Manchester City Academy Stadium in the first game of the day, playing ahead of the other Group D match between France and Belgium.
Italy came into this game desperate for redemption following an incredibly painful 5-1 defeat to pre-tournament favourites France, whereas Iceland were looking to flex their muscles a little after their 1-1 draw with Belgium.
The Azzurre immediately fell behind, with early defensive shakiness again punishing them; a smooth bit of play allowed Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir to score the opener after just three minutes, leaving the Italians shellshocked.
After a little while Italy finally started to settle into the match, although their play never looked particularly convincing for the remainder of the first half.
Milena Bertolini’s half-time team talk clearly had some effect, however, as the Italians came out on the front foot in the second half, controlling the ball well in midfield and consistently pushing into the final third.
After 61 minutes Italy’s positive play was finally rewarded following a nice bit of play from both Barbara Bonansea and Valentina Bergamaschi, with the latter’s side-footed shoot nestling comfortably in the bottom corner.
The Azzurre continued the charge as the second half progressed, looking fired up following their equaliser. Despite their attempts, however, a second never came; Italy’s finishing was clearly lacking and a number of great attempts just missed the target. At one point, a Bonansea shot was barely tipped onto the post by Sandra Sigurðardóttir.
Can’t even beat a team from a country with the population the size of a small city smh
Agree with Gino.
These Italian national coaches Bertolini and Mancini are a joke and need to be fired worrying about teams like Iceland and N. Macedonia. My God Iceland doesn’t even have a professional women’s soccer league and the country has less than 400,000 people and they could have and should have beat Italy today. I’m tired of these “coaches” making excuses all the time and not delivering results. Italian soccer has rapidly declined and it becoming joke in Europe and now internationally.