Luciano Spalletti insists Jorginho ‘remains a special penalty-taker for Italy’ after the third straight miss and praises the mental strength of shaking off a North Macedonia comeback to win 5-2.
The Azzurri needed the victory here this evening to put them level on 13 points in second place with Ukraine, meaning a draw will be enough on Monday when they meet on neutral turf in Leverkusen to secure EURO 2024 qualification.
Matteo Darmian and a Federico Chiesa brace had given Italy the 3-0 half-time lead, despite Jorginho having a penalty saved, but North Macedonia got it back to 3-2 at the 74th minute.
“We had a great first half and that was the game we had to make. With our quality, sooner or later we do score goals, but there was this danger of counter-attacks, that we were never troubled by in the first half, but were a couple of times after the break,” Spalletti told RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia.
“There is this moment in history for Italy where a single mistake can start to make things tumble. We had said to avoid corners and set plays because they are taller than us, they scored the first corner they had. The second goal was a big deflection, it was casual, so that changes the psychological aspects of the match.
“At that point, I think we saw the best of Italy in terms of character and quality, as we showed strength to keep going and secure the victory with another two goals.”
It was debated before the game what would happen if Italy were awarded a penalty and Jorginho did step up, but it was a weak spot-kick that was easily saved, his third error in a row in all competition.
“We need to congratulate the goalkeeper, who made it seem as if he had already made the move. Jorginho remains a special penalty-taker for Italy,” insisted Spalletti.
Chiesa was the star of the show with two goals and was given harsh treatment from the North Macedonian defenders.
“Chiesa has these moments where he turns on the turbo. When he takes men on, it is not just with technique, but also strength and pace. We thank him for his contribution this evening.”
Giacomo Raspadori and then Stephan El Shaarawy also rounded out the scoreline in stoppages for a 5-2 victory over North Macedonia.
Spalletti was asked if there will be much rotation for the decisive match against Ukraine on Monday evening in Leverkusen.
“There was a scare early on when Chiesa had that knock, so I preferred to take him off when we were leading. As for the next match, we have to see how everyone is doing, but I do not predict that many changes.”
Well … It is special to miss so many penalties in a row ^^’
But the last he scored against Spain made Italy go to Euro Final, so there is always that.
He only scores for Chelsea in cup finals. He clearly does not respect the Italian national side.
Everybody figured out his technique after the spain game.
Stop doing the hop and skip and blast the ball.
Stop taking penalty kicks.