Italy’s painful Euro 2022 campaign petered to an anonymous end after their 1-0 loss to Belgium, capping off a tournament that saw them pick up only one point in Group D. With the 2023 World Cup rapidly approaching, now is the time for the Azzurre to dig deep, writes Apollo Heyes.
The Azzurre, led by Milena Bertolini, came into the tournament in England this summer hopeful of a strong showing following a positive campaign at the World Cup in 2019, where they progressed out of the groups and reached the quarter-finals. With the 2023 World Cup qualifying run going well, expectations were suitably high.
Unfortunately for Bertolini, her Italy squad and the Azzurre fans, they were drawn to face pre-tournament favourites France in their opening game of Group D. The French, ranked third in the world, put on a dominating display and picked up an easy 5-1 win.
Italy’s loss utterly shook them. Especially in the first half of that match, the Azzurre were majorly outclassed and could hardly string together a run of play, being far below their usual level. This result was exactly what Bertolini needed to avoid in order to stop anxiety growing within the squad, something that ultimately proved costly.
Italy’s second match against Iceland unfortunately suffered from that drubbing against Les Bleus, and they conceded within three minutes. The rest of the match was more positive and by the end the Azzurre were finally starting to play with some confidence.
It came a little too late, however, and a frustrating 1-0 loss to Belgium ended their tournament in tears. Despite the result, the final game was the Azzurre’s most positive at Euro 2022, and it’ll make the team and Bertolini regretful that they failed to show their quality when it mattered most.
Italy will now have to regroup ahead of their final two 2023 World Cup qualifying matches against Moldova (September 2) and Romania (September 6). They currently sit top of qualifying Group G with 21 points, two ahead of second place Switzerland and five ahead of Romania.
Tough tournament for the Azzure, but rarely (if ever) does progress happen in a “straight line.” They’ll learn from this, and as the author notes, they’re in a good spot concerning World Cup qualifying. Keep on track there, and they should be fine. Serie A becoming a fully professional women’s league this season should help as well.
What next ? Bertolini should resign immediately ! She was a mediocre player and even worse coach. The team can’t even advance out of the group stage and finished last again like in 2017 against much lower ranked teams. Time for her to go and pursue another career.
Home I think.