Italy reach football’s Euro 2024 after tense 0-0 draw with Ukraine

LEVERKUSEN – A relieved Italy midfielder Davide Frattesi said that the Azzurri, who are the reigning European champions, will try and “repeat something fantastic” in Germany after a 0-0 draw with Ukraine in Leverkusen on Nov 20 secured qualification for Euro 2024.

The result means Italy, who failed to qualify for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups either side of their Euro 2020 triumph, avoid another embarrassing tournament miss.

The two teams finish level on 14 points behind England in Group C, but the Italians progressed with the better head-to-head record, having won 2-1 in Milan in September.

“We knew if we were unable to break the deadlock in the first hour, it would become really tough. Ukraine then made it a more physical match,” Frattesi told RAI Sport.

“We were under pressure, but overall it was a good performance. What mattered was that we qualified...

“We suffered, but it was important to get through. Now we’ll try to repeat something fantastic.”

The final score belied the true nature of the match, with Italy’s high-octane attack and Ukraine’s counter-attacking threat creating several chances for both teams.

Ukraine had a late penalty appeal turned down, despite Italy midfielder Bryan Cristante looking to have made contact with Mykhailo Mudryk’s foot in stoppage time.

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has been in charge for only three months, taking over after Roberto Mancini surprisingly left for the Saudi Arabia national team job, and he was pleased with the result.

“We had to keep attacking – but Ukraine proved they are a very good team who gave us a lot of problems,” said the Italian, who led Napoli to their first Serie A title since 1990 last season.

Italy will go into either Pot 3 or 4 for the tournament draw on Dec 2 in Hamburg.

Spalletti added that his team would “have a moment to pat ourselves on the back” before turning their focus to the Finals in Germany, the site of their 2006 World Cup triumph.

“Now, the level will step up. Now, the fun begins,” he said.

Ukraine, forced to take the fixture to Germany due to the ongoing conflict with Russia, can still qualify, but will need to navigate the play-offs in March.

England boss Gareth Southgate, meanwhile, insisted that his team’s lacklustre finish to their qualifying campaign, despite finishing top, will mean nothing when they start the tournament proper.

Being held to a 1-1 draw by North Macedonia on Nov 20 meant the Three Lions failed to beat a side as low as 66th in the Fifa rankings for the first time since 2016, when they drew with Slovenia.

But Southgate is confident England’s drab end to the qualifying campaign, including a dull 2-0 win over minnows Malta, will prove nothing more than an irrelevant blip.

“The really big results were in March against Italy (2-1 win) and Ukraine (2-0),” he added.

“I thought that given we had already qualified, the mentality of the players was still excellent. The quality on the ball was good on a difficult pitch. I thought there were lots of positive performances.”

One area of concern for Southgate could be his team’s struggle to pierce the massed ranks of North Macedonia and Malta’s defences.

He was without influential Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham due to injury for both qualifiers, while record scorer Harry Kane was left on the bench for the first 58 minutes against North Macedonia, who took a first-half lead through Enis Bardhi.

Only when Kane came on did England snatch the equaliser, an own goal from Jani Atanasov as he tried to stop the Bayern Munich striker turning in Phil Foden’s corner.

Southgate will have also noted his side took 63 minutes to manage their first shot on target in the win against Malta at Wembley.

And although England had 71 per cent possession against North Macedonia, they mustered only two shots on target in Skopje.

Looking ahead, Southgate will want improved performances in the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in March. AFP, REUTERS