June 24 – Azzurri centre-back Alessandro Bastoni (pictured right) has vowed that Italy will set aside their fears as they strive to avoid the embarrassment of an early exit from Euro 2024 as his team set their sights on a clash with Croatia in Leipzig on Monday night.
His side were barely able to lay a glove on Spain, whose victory of the Azzurri was much more convincing than its 1-0 scoreline. The question remains as to whether the Italians can bounce back from such a psychologically draining result, with Spain going on to top the group.
“There is no such thing as fear in football,” said Bastoni, who scored in the 2-1 win against Albania. “No place for it, no reason for it either. When you lose you either get down in the dumps or try to do better than you did on the previous occasion. Fortunately football always gives you a second chance and we can’t wait to get out there.”
“Talk is cheap,” Italy manager Luciano Spalletti (pictured left) said during the pre match press conference. “We need to walk the walk, and leave talk to one side.”
“That’s something you do very quickly, because if we don’t get a result we’re off home,” Spalletti said.
“Life goes very quickly. The high-speed train in Italy spends five seconds on the platform. Either you jump aboard, or you stay on the platform and you’re walking home.”
Although Spain’s 1-0 win looked marginal on paper, Bastoni admitted it had been a “shellacking”.
He assured that Italy will be more formidable against a possession-hungry Croatia, but a team trained in Spalletti’s fluid style won’t resort to aggression to make their mark.
“That’s something you did about 50 years ago,” the Inter defender said. “You left a marker on someone, you gave them a kick. You’ve got to take the sting out of the opponent with your approach. It’s about being bold and daring.”
While Italy might scrape by with a draw, Croatia’s mission is straightforward: only a win will guarantee their advancement. Croatia have only once failed to progress past the group stage of a European Championship, in 2004, and their manager, Zlatko Dalic, is determined to avoid a repeat of that disappointment.
“We’re ready,” Dalic said. “We know what the situation is, we know it’s effectively a knockout match and there won’t be any extra time. It’s a must-win. Any other result will send us home and we don’t want to go home so soon. It will be a historic match. From the word go, we want to try and put things right.”
Croatia may be saying goodbye to aging stars like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic after this tournament, but Dalic is determined not to let them end their national team careers in Leipzig on Monday night.
“We haven’t said this might be the end of an era for us,” he said. “We need to approach it with our heads held high.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1720117482labto1720117482ofdlr1720117482owedi1720117482sni@g1720117482niwe.1720117482yrrah1720117482