The end of the match against Croatia? We believed until the last moment, Spalletti said. What does he think Italy need to improve on going into the eight finals?

Italy finally scored a point in Monday night’s Euro game against Croatia in a 1-1 draw. However, the equalising goal was saved at the last minute when Mattia Zaccagni scored in the 98th minute. Although it seemed that the match would not go the Italians’ way, coach Luciano Spalletti nevertheless believed in a good result until the end.

The Italian national football team entered this year’s European Championship in Germany almost as expected. They beat Albania in their opening appearance, even though they had to turn the game in their favour.

The fastest goal in the history of the Euros was scored by Nedi Bajrami, but the Italians turned the game around within a quarter of an hour and won 2-1 after goals by Bastoni and Barella.

However, they then lost to Spain when defender Riccardo Calafiori scored an own goal in the 55th minute. The Italians needed at least a draw against Croatia, as a loss would have relegated them to third place in Group B and they would have had to rely on the results of the other third-placed teams in the table.

The Azzurri were 0-1 down after Modric’s goal, with Croatia holding on to the result until the last minutes. Although the Italians pressed their opponents later in the second half, no goal came from these great efforts.

However, the equaliser finally came in the 98th minute when Mattia Zaccagni scored from the last action of the match. It was his debut goal in the national jersey and he became the darling of the nation.

Many were already in disbelief and slowly prepared to watch the other opponents in the third team table. However, Italian coach Luciano Spalletti had one thing to say in his post-match press conference – everyone on the bench believed until the last moment.

We believed until the last second, Spalletti said

“We believed until the last second, that’s how it is in football now. We deserved to advance against Croatia in terms of the chances we created. We played a little bit soft and not in the best way in some parts of the game,” Spalletti said after the Croatia game.

“It was difficult to advance from the group. Spain is excellent, Croatia is excellent. We lowered our bar too much in the first half against the Croats, but that was because we felt the pressure of the importance of the game. Otherwise it’s impossible to play so poorly. But so far the players are improving at the Euro,” he concluded, while also noting that the Italians need to improve in their black work and be more incisive in the penalty area.

Source: EURO 2024, UEFA