Football News: Italy Looks to Defend Euro 2024 Title Against Switzerland
Reigning Euro Champions Italy Face Tough Test
Reigning Euro champions Italy will look to continue their title defence by progressing past Switzerland this weekend, live on talkSPORT. Azzuri scraped a top two spot in Group B after Mattia Zaccagni scored a crucial equaliser in the final few seconds against Croatia.
“That goal put Luciano Spalletti’s men on the favourable side of the draw and has massively helped their chances of going far in the tournament. Although, a win against an impressive Switzerland team won’t be easy as they remain unbeaten in Germany so far.”
The Euro 2024 Last-16 Clash
This Euro 2024 last-16 clash will take place on Saturday, June 29. Kick-off at the Olympiastadion is scheduled for 5pm. talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game from Germany. Commentary will come from Nigel Adderley and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.
Route to the Final
“The two countries have been rewarded with a place on the ‘easier’ side of the draw. They won’t have to play Spain, France, Portugal, Germany or Belgium until the final should they progress through the rounds.”
The winner of this game will set up a tie against either England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals. In the semis, they would then take on one of the Netherlands, Romania, Austria and Turkey. A tough task could then follow in the final against one of the aforementioned giants.
Team News
Swiss defender Silvan Widmer is suspended for this game after picking up his second booking of the tournament last time out. Stuttgart’s Leonidas Stergiou may replace him at right wing-back. As for Italy, arguably their best player at Euro 2024, Riccardo Calfiori will miss out through suspension. Gianluca Mancini will likely take his spot in the defence while Gianluca Scamacca should return to lead the line from the off.
Manager’s Thoughts
Italy boss Spalletti knows his side can play at a much better level than what they have shown so far at Euro 2024. Speaking after claiming a last-minute draw with Croatia, he said:
“There’s no denying it, we were below our usual level in the first half. If we don’t create very much, we’re not going to score very much. You can see we were thinking about bringing a result home, without really believing that we needed a win. It was involuntary, but I expect more from my players, because they show it in flashes. They do have the quality, but at times we make really banal errors.”
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