– It hurts, it hurts very, very much. We have to say sorry to everyone, we let them down. That’s what a clearly disappointed star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma says after the match. He and his teammates waddled over to Italian supporters to apologize for the earlier exit. Italy were favourites, but ended up being almost without a chance against a hard-working Switzerland. With that, the reigning champions are already out of the EC after the round of 16. That means they are following in the footsteps of both Spain and Portugal, who went out at the same stage in 2016 and 2020 respectively. Luciano Spalletti, Italy’s national team manager, believes the second goal ruined a lot for them. – The goal right after the start of the second half took our breath away in terms of morale, he says. It boiled over after the end of the match, especially for Italian Mattia Zaccagni, who seemed to have a stranglehold on goalscorer Remo Freuler. AMPERT: It boiled over for Mattia Zaccagni. Photo: Skjermdump / news Several experts took out the butcher knife both during and after the match. – This is the worst thing that has come from Italy since anchovies on pizza, writes Lars Tjærnås on Twitter/X. TV 2’s sports commentator Mina Finstad Berg has followed Italian football for a number of years and she believes that the current team is one of the more toothless editions. – For someone who has followed Italian football for a couple of decades, it is completely absurd to see an Italy that is so helpless and passive defensively, writes the TV 2 profile on X. BREAKDOWN: Alessandro Bastoni was clearly disappointed after crashing out of the EC . Photo: AP Hareide saw the danger early As expected, the match had a quiet start with few chances. But the Swiss were probably a little more satisfied as they had never so little initiative. Hareide reacted to the Italians’ performance early in the match. – There are very bad relations between the players. You can almost see it from here, he said from the commentary stand. – Switzerland must take advantage of this, continued the former national team manager. GOAL SCORES: Remo Freuler became Saturday’s first goalscorer when he sent Switzerland into the lead. Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP And it seems that the red shirts heard Hareide, because shortly afterwards they had a great chance to go up in the lead. Breel Embolo was played alone with Donnarumma, but the latter made a big effort and saved the attempt masterfully. Late in the first half, Switzerland took advantage of a weak Italy and scored 1–0. It was Remo Freuler who knocked the red shirts into the lead after making a smart run into the Italia box. – They don’t follow the race from midfield. It is catastrophic for Italy, said Hareide. – Premier League team against Championship team Not even on the “ball island” were they significantly impressed by Spalletti’s crew. – Switzerland looks like a team from another division. This looks like a Premier League team against a Championship team (level two in England), BBC expert Danny Murphy said during the game. REFSES: Italy will hear it after an early EC exit. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP Switzerland were not finished. After a minute played in the second half, we were served a rare dream goal. Vargas served an almost perfect long shot from the edge of the penalty area and curled it into the far corner. – It is completely incredible. It has been in the air the whole time. The entire first half was a great Italian tragedy, said Hareide. – What they (Italy) have shown so far has been pitiful, commented Christian Nilssen. Italy probably had more of the ball after the 2-0 goal, but they were unable to create too many chances. Nevertheless, the chances they created were great and two Italian attempts hit the post. Published 29.06.2024, at 19.52 Updated 29.06.2024, at 20.22
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Here stands the star school right for the fans – European Football Championship 2024
