Italy to Nations League Final Four: Raspadori and Dimarco take care of it

Hungary-Italy 0-2, Azzurri to Final Four

Despite a decidedly bitter year, given the failure to qualify for the World Cup, football’s Italy managed to give itself a smile by beating Hungary 2-0 in Budapest and thus qualifying for the Final Four of the 2022-23 Nations League.

In a match in which the pace picked up only at times, with both teams’ forwards rarely thrown deep, it was the goals of Raspadori in the 27th minute and Dimarco in the 52nd minute that decided. The Napoli striker’s goal is a masterpiece of opportunism: it all stems from a bad back pass by Nagy that launches Gnonto, Gulacsi stops the Zurich striker but the ball ends up to Raspadori who scores. The second goal, on the other hand, was the result of a fine Azzurri action, with Cristante receiving the ball from Barella and crossing towards the center, where Dimarco was ready in advance of Nego.

The last abundant half-hour holds no particular shocks except for a fine save by Donnarumma on Styles in the 64th minute and protests by the Magyars in the 79th minute for a potential penalty (intervention in the box by Bastoni on Adam) that the French referee Bastien, after consultation with the Var, decides not to award, drawing booing from the crowd present at the Puskas Arena.

At the triple whistle it is therefore 2-0 for Italy, which overtakes Hungary at the top of Group 3 of League A and flies to the Final Four of the Nations League for the second consecutive time: together with the Azzurri, Croatia and Holland are already at the final stage, while for the fourth qualifier it will be necessary to wait for Tuesday’s direct clash between Portugal and Spain.