One day, Paolo Nicolato’s Azzurrini will ask themselves when exactly did they lose the chance to advance to the Quarter Finals of the Euro U-21. Was it when the Dutch referee Allard Lindhout disallowed an evidently valid goal in their opener against France?
Was it when they let Switzerland score twice in the space of five minutes, after building a comfortable three-goal lead in the first half of their second game?
All this played a role in the end, but none would have mattered if Italy had gotten their job done in Cluj on Wednesday night and beat a Norway side that had collected two losses out of two games so far. Instead, it was the Nordic side to take all three points on offer, courtesy of a lone goal from Salernitana player Erik Botheim on 65 minutes.
Little good did Botheim’s goal do for his side, however, as the two tickets to the Quarter Finals went to France and Switzerland. The Transalpine easily disposed of the Swiss 4-1 in the other game of Group D, but Switzerland still managed to sneak into the knockout stages as they ultimately scored one more goal than Italy and two more than Norway.
Tonight’s sad demise also means that Italy will miss the Olympic pass for the fourth time in a row. Paolo Nicolato’s four-year stint as the Azzurrini‘s coach could not have ended worse.
All in all, Italy collected less than they deserved across the three games of this Group Stage but ultimately paid for their lack of finalization skills tonight. The Azzurrini were in control for most of the first half but never managed to seriously trouble the opposition goalkeeper.
Norway found their opener almost casually, when substitute Antonio Nusa whipped a ground cross from the right side that Marco Carnesecchi failed to block. The Cremonese goalkeeper’s deflection sent the ball right on Botheim’s feet and the Salernitana man – who had tallied just one goal out of 28 Serie A appearances this season – fired it in the back of the net despite mishitting it.
The Azzurrini were denied an equalizer by the crossbar, the woodwork pushing back Nicoló Cambiaghi’s diving header from a Sandro Tonali corner kick deflected by Matteo Cancellieri. That was the only real chance for Paolo Nicolato’s side, who failed to hit their unbalanced opponents on the counter (Norway needed a second goal to qualify).
And so, it was Switzerland to celebrate despite conceding four goals tonight. A bizarre ending to Italy’s disastrous month of June. After losing in the U-20 World Cup Final, the Nations League Semi Finals, and in all three club competition Finals, calcio fans can just be glad that this month is almost over.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |