Mattia Zaccagni proved the hero for Italy in their decisive Euro 2024 clash with Croatia, netting a late equaliser to take the Azzurri to the Round of 16.
Luciano Spalletti’s side found themselves in a precarious position entering their final group game at the European Championship, sitting on just three points after a tight win over Albania and a painful defeat to Spain, leaving everything up for grabs in their third match of Group B.
For large portions of the match, Italy failed to impress and found themselves on the back foot in the 55th minute after Luka Modric found the back of the net, putting them on track for a third-place finish wrought with uncertainty. Then, everything suddenly changed.
In the 98th minute of the match, the Azzurri broke forward on the counter and a clean pass from Riccardo Calafiori was perfectly caught by a charging Zaccagni, who carefully curled his shot into the far corner, securing a vital point for Italy that guaranteed their spot in the Round of 16 of Euro 2024.
Who is Zaccagni?
Zaccagni is no mainstay for Italy, having made just seven caps ahead of the knockout stages of the European Championship. He made his debut under Roberto Mancini in a friendly against Turkey back in March 2022 before staying out of the squad for 16 months, partially due to injury and partially due to a minor feud he had with then-Roma forward Nicolo Zaniolo.
Prior to the clash with Croatia, the Lazio winger had never scored for his national team, only managing to provide an assist in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine in September of last year. Now, his fortunes have dramatically changed with Italy.
At club level, Zaccagni started out with local side Bellaria Igea Marina before joining Hellas Verona as a teenager in August 2013, initially on loan before €10,000 was paid four months later to secure a definitive transfer.
He spent time with Unione Venezia and Cittadella on loan before proving himself in the Gialloblu first team, emerging as a dynamic and hard-working winger capable of moments of magic. He netted 15 goals and provided 22 assists for the club before ending up in the sights of Lazio.
The Biancocelesti snapped up Zaccagni in the summer of 2021, adding him to Maurizio Sarri’s squad on a €200,000 loan with a circa €7.1m conditional obligation to buy clause attached. It didn’t take long for him to impress in the Italian capital.
Zaccagni soon proved himself a smart signing by Lazio, adding a much-needed source of creativity and danger to their frontline, taking some of the pressure off Ciro Immobile. With the captain now on the decline, the Italian winger’s importance and reliability has only increased.
Penning a new long-term deal with the Biancocelesti back in April, Zaccagni is now considered a centrally important player at the club and will continue to play a leading role under new coach Marco Baroni. In Rome, he’s already netted 22 goals and picked up 19 assists in 117 matches.
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