Macedonia remains indigestible: draw in first for Spalletti
Euro 2024 qualifiers, North Macedonia-Italy 1-1
It's bitter Luciano Spalletti's debut on the bench of the national team: the match against North Macedonia in Skopje ends 1-1, a result that complicates in no small way the path to Euro 2024 qualification.
On the far-from-perfect pitch of the National Arena dedicated to Tose Proeski, the Azzurri fail to express themselves at their best and despite coming close to scoring with Tonali, who hits the post on 21', they don't make much of an impact in the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, what seems to be the turning point: Barella kicks and hits the crossbar, Ciro Immobile heads again and sends the ball into the net, making the Azzurri on the field and on the bench explode with joy. The pace, however, remained low and North Macedonia gradually gained more and more confidence, until Enis Bardhi’s goal at 81'81' which made it 1-1 and effectively spoiled the party for the former Napoli coach.
The draw è a result that affects not a little the ambitions of qualifying for the European Championship: in fact, the ranking of Group C sees England ahead of everyone with 13 points (5 games played), ahead of Ukraine, which has 7 (4 played). Italy (3 matches) and North Macedonia (4) follow on 4 points, while Malta closes on 0 in 4 matches. The situation è delicate, already on Tuesday with Ukraine a success is needed to avoid other bitter surprises.
