A relieved Italy midfielder Davide Frattesi said the European champion will try and \u201crepeat something fantastic\u201d in Germany next year after Monday\u2019s 0-0 draw with Ukraine in Leverkusen secured qualification for Euro 2024.<\/p>\n
The result means Italy, which failed to qualify for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on either side of its Euro 2020 triumph, avoids another embarrassing tournament miss.<\/p>\n
The two nations finish level on 14 points behind England in Group C, but Italy have the better head-to-head record having won 2-1 in Milan in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew if we were unable to break the deadlock in the first hour, it would become really tough. Ukraine then made it a more physical match,\u201d Frattesi told RAI Sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were under pressure, but overall it was a good performance. What mattered was that we qualified…<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suffered, but it was important to get through. Now we\u2019ll try to repeat something fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final score belied the true nature of the match, with Italy\u2019s high-octane attack and Ukraine\u2019s counter-attacking threat creating several chances for both teams.<\/p>\n
Ukraine had a late penalty appeal turned down, despite Italy midfielder Bryan Cristante looking to have made contact with Mykhailo Mudryk\u2019s foot in injury time.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my point of view that was a penalty, but again I was not there and it\u2019s only about my emotions,\u201d Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov told a post-match press conference.<\/p>\n
Italy travelled to Leverkusen knowing it would progress by avoiding defeat, while Ukraine knew only a win would suffice.<\/p>\n
New Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has only been in charge for three months after Roberto Mancini surprisingly left for the Saudi Arabia national team job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to keep attacking — but Ukraine proved they are a very good team who gave us a lot of problems,\u201d Spalletti, who led Napoli to their first Serie A title since 1990 last season, said.<\/p>\n
Italy will go into either pot three or four for the tournament draw, which will take place on December 2 in Hamburg.<\/p>\n
Spalletti added his team would \u201chave a moment to pat ourselves on the back\u201d before turning their focus to the finals in Germany, the site of their 2006 World Cup triumph.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the level will step up. Now, the fun begins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo said his side\u2019s nervy qualification campaign, which included two losses to England and a draw with North Macedonia, would not dampen their hopes of defending the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the right motivation. Italy must go to the Euros not just to take part, but to compete as reigning champions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nComments\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Italy will go into either pot three or four for the Euro 2024 tournament draw, which will take place on December 2 in Hamburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-sport-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baysidesports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}