Keystone
Italy concludes the preparations for the Middle East that begin next week with a sense of accomplishment. Switzerland, the opponent in the group, won the last Test against the Czech Republic 4-0.
The candidate in Group A struggled against the brave Czechs for twenty minutes before Cerro Immobile set Italy on the right track. The Lazio striker was lucky when his shot hit a Czech defender, making it unbearable for Jiri Pavlenka. Even when Nicolo Barilla (42) made it 2-0, Pavlenka was surprised with a skewed shot.
Under the guidance of Swiss referee Lionel Chaudy, the Squadra Azzurra put on a show of strength after the break against the Czechs, who also qualified for EM. With more goals from Lorenzo Insigne (66th place) and Domenico Berardi with a quarter of an hour left, Roberto Mancini’s team has proven that they not only have to rely on skewed shots in the European Championships, but can also score with beautiful combinations.
Italy’s performance was particularly convincing defensively. The Czech Republic did not create the scoring opportunity in the 90 minutes that deserved this title. Switzerland will be warned about the Group B match on Wednesday 16 June in Rome.
The duel of the European champions ends without goals
There has been no winner in the confrontation between the European champions in the last three finals. Portugal, the defending champion, scored 0-0 against Spain in Madrid. The fact that the match remained goalless was due to the sudden final weakness of both teams. Together with the 2008 and 2012 European champions, Alvaro Morata narrowly missed a goal several times.
The Juventus forward missed his best chance in injury time when it hit the crossbar. In Portugal too, Juventus striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, has shown rare weaknesses. About ten minutes before the end, the world footballer ran five times alone towards the Spanish goal when he put the ball too far with his head and gave this goalkeeper Unai Simon as a gift.
