Jimu news reporter Deng Pengwei
Poster maker Zhu Ruiyi
1：0！ At 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 21, in the last match of the Group A group stage of the European Cup, Italy defeated Wales, thus ranking first in the group with a record of three wins.
Italy set two major records in this match: 30 unbeaten matches to tie the team's all-time record, setting a record of 82 years; 11 consecutive matches with clean sheets!
After this battle, Italy has become the second biggest favorite to win this European Championship, after France.
It's crazy
World War I made two histories
Two consecutive 3-0 sweeps of Turkey and Switzerland, Italy advanced to the Round of 16 of the European Championship, so in the third round of the group stage against Switzerland, coach Mancini chose a big rotation, compared with the second round of the starting lineup, a full replacement of 8 players! Even the Italian second team took Wales without bloodshed. This clean sheet victory also allowed Italy to continue to refresh two miracles, one of which set a new record in team history.
After winning Wales, Italy won the group stage for the first time in its history, while extending the unbeaten run in A-class competitions to 30 matches, thus equaling the blue-shirted coach Pozzo's longest unbeaten record in team history between 1935 and 1939, and Mancini's Italy equalizing the 82-year miracle. Italy's last defeat was in September 2018, when they lost 1-0 away to Portugal in the UEFA Nations League three years ago, and Italy's 30 A-class matches including this match were 25 wins and 5 draws.
Italy also broke a record in team history in this match, that is, 11 consecutive matches to keep a clean sheet! Prior to this, Italy's longest clean sheet record was 10 games, which was completed between November 1989 and June 1990, and Mancini led the team to set a new record in team history after keeping consecutive clean sheets in Estonia, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, San Marino, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Switzerland and Wales. Italy's most recent goal conceded dates back to last October, when it drew 1-1 at home to the Netherlands, the only goal conceded by the Blue shirts in their last 15 A-class matches.
Hard power
Civilian teams can fight
Italy, the "most civilian" in history, handed over such a perfect report card, which is really surprising, there are no big players, but more united, and the combat effectiveness is also outstanding.
What's even more frightening is that this is not the strongest Italian team, coach Mancini was forced to adjust the roster due to injuries on the eve of the start of the European Championship, such as Sensi and Pellegrini regrettably retired from injury, and Verratti was called up with injuries until the match against Wales, the paris Saint-Germain midfield core only made his first appearance. It should be pointed out that Locatelli, who played in place of Verratti, exploded in the second round of the group stage, scoring 2 goals to help Italy beat Switzerland 3-0, while Pescina, who replaced Pellegrini, closed his throat in the match against Wales. Of course, the main players Donnarumma, Bonucci, Chiellini, Jorginho and Immobile also showed their value. It is no exaggeration to say that every Italian player under Mancini is quietly contributing to the whole team.
With three wins, Italy scored seven goals, the team that has scored the most goals in this European Championship, while conceding zero goals, and is one of only three clean sheets in this European Championship so far. This blue-clad army is worth looking forward to.
Big hit
Italy's odds for winning the title rise to second
After this match, the outside world is more optimistic about the prospects of Italy winning the championship, and their winning odds are adjusted to 6.00, surpassing the German team. Italy has become the second favourite to win the European Championship, behind France at odds of 4.33, and France, with a king-of-fire squad, drew 1-1 with Hungary in the second match of the group stage, but the foundation of the World Cup title is still there, and they are still the biggest favorites to win the title.
From the group stage to the overall performance so far, the Italian team is undoubtedly overpowering the French team. The Gallic Rooster, despite possessing the king-dying tridents of Griezmann, Mbappe and Benzema, still insisted on playing a defensive counterattack against Hungary, which was simply too intimidating. And france's defensive line was not impeccable, hungary blew up the French line with a single counter-attack, and scored. In contrast, Italy's rivals against Turkey, Switzerland and Wales have basically crushed their opponents, and Italy's squad looks seriously aging, but the players still look energetic on the field.
However, the later games are the real test. Italy took the first place in the group to occupy a good position, their opponents in the round of 16 are the second place in group C, Ukraine and Austria are 2 out of 1, italy will not have much problems in qualifying. Italy's biggest opponent in the first half will be Group F No. 1, france and Germany are likely to be rivals, and if Italy wants to be the final champions, of course, it must be ready to beat the best opponents.
Tacit ball?
The Blues fought back against the rumors
Prior to this match, Italy had already qualified from the group. Before the match, there were many opinions about the battle, the most notable of which was that Italy would play a big game with Wales to squeeze out another opponent.
Italy is the biggest victim of the European Cup tacit ball. At the 2004 European Championship, Sweden and Denmark played a 2-2 match that made Italy hate. Now that 17 years have passed, Italy may become the dominant party of the tacit ball, in the face of such a situation, how should the brain tank of the Blues judge? Can the psychology of the players adapt and adjust?
Both the UEFA official website and the Milano Sport newspaper believed before the match that Mancini would completely rotate the forward trident, with Chiesa, Belotti and Bernardeschi coming on, and Berardi, Immobile and Insigne on leave. In midfield, Jorginho has no substitute to play for, and Verratti is expected to get a chance.
Although Italy rotated the squad in this game, from the perspective of the course of the game, Italy had no idea of playing the ball at all, and the 1:0 score said it all.
What an accident
Serie A leads the scoring list
After the victory over Wales, Italy advanced to the knockout rounds with a total of three wins. Pescina scored his debut goal for the national team and his goal was also the 19th goal scored by a Serie A player in this European Championship, which was able to rank first in all leagues.
It was a miracle that Persina was able to score, he was not selected for the Italian 26ers list at the beginning, sensi withdrew due to injury, leaving Persina in the list. After the first two wins, Mancini made a significant rotation of the starting lineup, and Pescina was given the opportunity to start.
This is just the second time That Persina has started for Italy, scoring his debut goal for the national team at the European Cup, and Persina is rushing to the bench and hugging his teammates, a moment he may never have dreamed of.
Italy has achieved such excellent results that Serie A has also benefited. At this European Championship, Serie A players scored 19 goals, Bundesliga players scored 14 goals, Premier League players scored 12 goals, Dutch and Belgian players scored 2 goals each, la Liga, Ligue 1, Portuguese Super League, Turkish Super League, Hungarian League and Chinese Super League players scored 1 goal each.
In recent years, the level of Serie A has been criticized, and it is currently ranked after the Premier League, La Liga and even the Bundesliga among the five major leagues in Europe. Let's wait and see.
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