European Under-21 Championships: Italy beaten by Norway and eliminated

European Under-21s: Italy beaten by Norway and eliminated

A mockery for Italy as they lose in Cluj 1-0 to Norway and are eliminated from the European Under-21 Championships. The Azzurrini finish with 3 points like Norway and Switzerland, the same score as in the avulse table, where all three teams finish with the same number of goals scored and conceded but Switzerland scored (and also conceded) one more than Italy and Norway, so moving on to the quarterfinals are the Swiss along with France, who beat them 4-1 today and won all three games in Group D.

The Scandinavians took the lead in the 65th minute with Botheim, who collected a cross from the right and bagged with an awkward lob that surprised both Carnesecchi and our entire defense. Incredible chance to equalize for Cambiaghi, who in the 81st minute from less than half a meter managed to send a chest shot over the crossbar! In the other two matches of the day, England beat Germany 2-0 while Israel resoundingly defeated the Czech Republic 1-0 thus passing the round along with the English.

These are the statements of Azzurri coach Paolo Nicolato to RAI microphones at the end of the match: “We collected too little in these three matches. In the second half we also played well, there were chances, but with the goal taken we had to review some situations. Beyond everything, we still collected little. This is a short tournament, episodes counted, but the performance was not three points. The players who arrived from the senior national team did well, they are all good players, as well as those from the other teams. Our path has been great, about the future I will talk at the appropriate time.”