Italy play Turkey next week in possibly the most insensitive and meaningless friendly match in football.
Both teams lost their respective World Cup play-off matches in heartbreaking fashion yesterday. Turkey suffered a 3-1 loss to Portugal, but things could have been different had Burak Yilmaz not blasted his 85th minute penalty over the crossbar when things were still 2-1.
Italy fell to a last minute North Macedonia in their play-off in Palermo, breaking hearts up and down the Italian peninsula. Now both teams are forced to play a meaningless friendly on Tuesday March 29 at 19.45 UK time, a game which could be considered insensitive considering the fact that both squads will be full of incredibly downcast players.
Sweeping changes are needed in both Italian and Turkish football if either team is to recover in time for Euro 2024 in Germany, and this useless friendly is an incredibly strange way to move on from the play-off heartbreak.
No. Completely change the lineup and put all youngsters in. Experiment and let them go at it.
Italy shouldn’t even bother showing up..
i still dont understand why should they play each other ? theres no reason if theyre knocked out.
also UEFA got it all wrong with this one game elimination. and how Poland gets a bye cuz Russia gets out via politics. yet Ukraine is still in. there should of been a redraw and a 2 legged playoff.
Utterly pointless. Players and fans won’t care in the slightest. If I were Italy, I’d claim that the entire squad had been affected by Covid and call the game off.
I agree with Gman, let the youngsters play. No starters from the North Macedonia debacle need attend…
I would give a cap to the Italians that play in Turkey, Balotelli, Borini, Okaka and Viviano
very boring game with poor morale
I think my daughter should play up front. Italy have got the worst number 9s we have ever had in the history of italian football. We got away with it in the Euros, but you can’t keep winning on penalties! This result was inevitable.
I am a Mancini fan but we have not played well since the Belgium game in the euros really and he should have seen this result coming.
We couldn’t score v N Ireland! So without Chiesa, and Spinazzola creating, where did Mancini think the goals were going to come from?
Verratti, Barella and Jorghinio do not score much for their clubs or country neither does Berradi! and Insigne for all his skill has his off days!
There are no great sides out there and Italy would have had a good a chance as any team in Qatar, however Immobile has been rubbish since 2014 for Italy (Balotti well no comment is the best way to discribe him!) and evetually it all caught up with us!
No wonder Mancini thought about Balotelli and Pedro but he should have acted before the N Macedonia game. No Italian can say the signs were not there!
Exactly my thoughts even after we won euro final I said we won euros without a striker but least now immobile will be given his pension? He has been shocking. Then day of Macedonia game I’m thinking no way mancini will play immobile? Oh boy he makes him captain???? Then 32 shots? No goals Mancini should of been sacked for incompetence !!!! Balotelli was available and would of scored for definite !!! Scamacca and Lorenzo Lucca are the future!!