Luciano Spalletti hailed the ‘maturity’ of his Italy side to beat Israel 2-1 and soar to the top of the Nations League group. ‘Players are now following positions they have at club level.’
It was a second consecutive victory in the Nations League, but yet again no clean sheet for the Azzurri, who conceded from Mohammad Abu Fani in the final minute.
Davide Frattesi had cushioned a Federico Dimarco cross with his chest to open the scoring, before Moise Kean broke his three-year Italy goal drought.
Spalletti sees a new Italy emerging
“It was a splendid game, because there were so many dangers that we talked about and we saw them tonight, especially in the first half,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.
“They sit deep, you might be tired and not make the right decisions, there is a lot of traffic in the middle, so it becomes difficult to find those passing channels.”
This was the first time that Italy had fielded five players from the start born on or after the year 2000, but it was maturity that the coach praised.
“The fact that the players were organised, ordered and waited for the right moment was a sign of great maturity.”
The move to a 3-5-2 formation proved decisive for the Nazionale after a dismal EURO 2024, inspired also by the way many of the Serie A clubs already play.
“In tactical terms, the lads did well to know their positions, but then they are now following the positions they have at club level. They know where the other will be and we saw that passing much better in the second half,” concluded Spalletti.
France beat Belgium 2-0 in Lyon this evening with goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele, meaning Italy are top of the Nations League group with six points, followed by both France and Belgium on three.
The only problem with Italian team is loosing possession easily.but with consistency of midfielders they can achieve everything
shot after shot 2 goals this is isreal capello is wrong we need to produce 1 2 killer strikers like other countries