Reuniting under the Wembley arch two years on from a gripping continental final, England and Italy, do battle in a pivotal Euro 2024 qualifier in Group C today.
Gareth Southgate’s men are potentially just 90 minutes away from punching their ticket to Germany, although their three-point lead over the Azzurri is far from unassailable.
With one eye on the impending visit of the European champions, England head coach, Southgate, promised to keep some of his more established internationals in bubble wrap on Friday night, as a host of fringe players took to the field to test their mettle against Australia.
However, the Wembley atmosphere was noticeably flat as a toothless Three Lions struggled to penetrate the Socceroos backline while having to survive a scare or two themselves but with 12 minutes gone in the second half, Ollie Watkins stuck out a leg to clinch the win at the back stick.
As is the case with any underwhelming England display, debate raged over Southgate’s choice of personnel and tactics against Graham Arnold’s side, but a triumph is a triumph for the Three Lions, who are now done with their competitive caps with the chance to seal Euro 2024 qualification with two games to spare.
Ukraine may have broken England’s 100% record on matchday five in Group C, but with 13 points next to their name, the hosts need to defeat only Italy today to ensure a top-two finish, and even a draw would suffice if Ukraine who have played a game more are unable to beat resident minnows, Malta.
Aiming to put paid to that
phenomenal record, Italy who also have a game in hand on all the sides below them owing to their unsuccessful exploits in the Nations League Finals last year – refused to let an alarming illegal betting scandal derail their chances of a straightforward win over the Maltese on Saturday.
Becoming the oldest player to ever score his first Azzurri goal in some style, 34-year-old Giacomo Bonaventura curled home a wonderful opener before Domenico Berardi got in on the act with two sweetly-struck efforts of his own, and as the clock was winding down, there was enough time for Davide Frattesi to prolong his golden streak in Italy colours to cap off a routine 4-0 victory.
Nothing less than a multiple-goal thumping would have been acceptable for the Azzurri in Bari, as Luciano Spalletti’s team dropped points in the section last month – being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Macedonia – but Saturday’s success has the champions sitting pretty in second place again.
Italy and fellow 10-pointers, Ukraine, are only separated by head-to-head results, though, and nothing can be decided regarding the Azzurri’s top-two chances before the end of the month, although they will have their Nations League ranking to fall back on should they be demoted below the silver medal position.
However, the Azzurri faithful have few fond memories of their side’s most recent playoff exploits in World Cup qualifying which ended in North Macedonia-inflicted heartbreak and England avenged their Euros final heartbreak with a 2-1 win in Naples seven months ago, but not since 2006 have Italy lost a continental qualifier away from home. –Sports Mole
