Football News Update: Euro 2024, Champions League, FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations Standings, Premier League, EFL Cup, EFL Championship, EFL One, EFL Two, and FA Cup
Reigning Champions Italy Begin Euro 2024 Defence Against Albania
“It’s the highest moment of my career. As I’ve already said, I will try to give my best. I don’t know if it will be enough. We have strong footballers, so we must make them become a team, and if we make it, I am convinced we can play on par with teams that, at the moment, are on a higher level.”
- Luciano Spalletti, Italy Manager
Reigning champions Italy begin the defence of their European Championship with a showdown against Albania tonight. The 2020 winners, who beat England on penalties in the final at Wembley, have been drawn into the tournament’s ‘Group of Death’.
The Azzurri have struggled since lifting the trophy, having missed out on the 2022 World Cup and then only squeezing into second place in England’s qualifying Group C, losing home and away against the Three Lions. Luciano Spalletti has impressed since replacing Roberto Mancini in August 2023 but faces a huge task in his first major tournament.
Albania are considered the rank outsiders of the group, with European giants Italy, Spain, and Croatia. However, the Red and Blacks, spearheaded by manager Sylvinho, only conceded four goals in qualifying en route to beating Poland and the Czech Republic to top their group.
This Group B showdown will take place on Saturday, June 15, with kick-off at Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park set for 8pm UK time. talkSPORT will have full coverage of the match, presented by Danny Kelly, with commentary from Nigel Adderley and former England striker Dean Ashton. The tie will also be shown on free-to-air TV on BBC One.
Arsenal and Tottenham both have stars in Italy’s squad, with Jorginho and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario making the cut. The latter’s teammate for Spurs, Destiny Udogie, has missed out after undergoing surgery on an injury in April. Marco Verratti, Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli, and Lazio striker Ciro Immobile were notable absentees from Italy’s long-list.
Spalletti has admitted that Italy are not favourites at Euro 2024 despite coming into the tournament as defending champions.
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