FIGC President Gabriele Gravina insists he ‘kept the promise to the Italian people’ and thanks Luciano Spalletti for the EURO 2024 qualification.
The Azzurri had missed out on the last two editions of the World Cup and were heading for another dangerous play-off in this qualifying campaign too.
However, a point against Ukraine this evening proved sufficient and they booked their ticket to the Euros in Germany next summer.
“We had made a promise to the Italian people to heal some of those sporting wounds, and we kept that promise,” Gravina told Sky Sport Italia.
There had been a bright spot between those World Cup flops when Roberto Mancini took Italy to win the EURO 2020 title, but the coach quit in August to take over the Saudi Arabia role.
Scrambling for a replacement, the FIGC convinced Scudetto-winner Spalletti to jump right back in just weeks after he had left Napoli.
“A lot changed in the spirit with Spalletti, that enthusiasm returned and the desire to get back to being a special team. With joy and calm, Spalletti brought back a shape and character to this squad,” added Gravina.
“The spell had broken before, but Spalletti did well to quickly recover it. The Nazionale showed strong spirit against Ukraine.
“We saw a team that dominated the match, aside from the suffering of the final minutes. We have qualified, where we had to be, even if for a while we risked not being there. Thank you to Spalletti and the lads.”
Because of this result, Italy are likely to be in Pot 4 for the EURO 2024 group phase draw, which will take place on December 2.
No thanks to Gravina. Italian football needs a change at the top. Italy never struggled to qualify like it has in the last 6 years, TV rights are a disaster, football infrastructure is poor, player development has slowed, and the Serie A is now the fourth or fifth best league in Europe.
I agree with everything but last part . French league is not better .
Gravina needs to step down.
Until Seria A starts earlier in august we will continue to struggle for qualification. Those two matches in September are always a struggle as the player’s are not competitive match fit. There are other reasons why we have struggled lack of central defenders and we need a striker/s. We used to have so many to choose from and now we are struggling to fill the void (I thought buongiorno had a good game however against a top nation I fear another Germany away result).