Gianluigi Donnarumma admits Italy “made too many mistakes” in the 1-0 defeat to Spain, but their EURO 2024 fate is “still in our hands”.
Although Luciano Spalletti had said he wanted his team to take the initiative, that did not really happen in Gelsenkirchen.
La Roja dominated possession for most of the match and Donnarumma kept the scoring in check, along with the posts, only beaten by an unfortunate rebound off Riccardo Calafiori.
“We are angry, but we have to show this determination in the last match.”
Three points will give Spain a place in the last 16 as group winners, but a point against Croatia on Monday would be enough to secure second place.
This is because even if Albania beat Spain, the Azzurri have a superior head-to-head record.
“Our destiny is still in our hands, we must not see this as a total disaster. We have a lot to do against Croatia, but I am convinced that we can do it.
“The attitude was right, we worked hard, maybe not well, but hard, and we know we have to do better. We were aggressive, but our biggest mistakes were when we had possession, as we lost it too easily.
“In the last 10 or 15 minutes we did better, we made them run, but we should have done it much earlier. If you let Spain take the initiative throughout the match, they will run wild.”
Italy beat Spain in the Euro 2020 semi-final on penalties, but how have the teams changed since then?
“I think we were too hasty in trying to attack and they pressed well as well, so we couldn’t keep possession or take the pressure off them. Spain are a great team, we all know that if you let them get the ball, they will hurt you.”
Although the final possession stats were just 57 per cent to 43, that was certainly not the case throughout the match, when Spain were constantly putting the Nazionale under pressure.
