Zaccagni gives Italy second chance to find themselves'
LEIPZIG, Germany -- It turned out to be the night of redemption and heroes in Leipzig. Likely heroes such as Luka Modric, who redeemed himself after his penalty was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma materialising in the box and poking in what looked to be the winner, and unlikely heroes, such as Mattia Zaccagni.
The Lazio winger turned 29 a week ago, is a late bloomer who won the first of his measly six Italy caps at 26 and, until now, was perhaps best known for regularly ranking alongside Vinícius Júnior among the most fouled (and most booked) players in Europe's Big Five leagues. And yet he was the guy -- in the eighth and final minute of injury time -- who smacked a loose ball just inside the far post, saving Italy's second place in Group B by snatching a late 1-1 draw against Croatia on Monday.
That goal also spared Italy the dual embarrassment of losing two out of three group games (a first for them at the Euros) and having to endure 48 hours of wracked nerves, finger-pointing and second-guessing before they found out whether they'd be advancing as one of the four best third-placed teams. Instead, their reward is a round-of-16 clash with northern neighbors Switzerland in Berlin.
Not a bad outcome when you think about it. You imagine Luciano Spalletti will do the old ball coach thing of telling the players they got an unexpected second chance and challenging them to make the most of the opportunity. Great. But what they really need is consistent messaging.
Spalletti talked about wanting them to have a clear identity and sticking to it. Fine. Except that apparently went out the window after the Spain defeat on Thursday. The scheme changed from 4-3-3 to 3-4-2-1, the forwards changed from Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca to Mateo Retegui and Giacomo Raspadori. The general identity -- a vague sense of wanting to be proactive and attacking and pressing -- stayed the same, but the patterns of play were all different.
Spain made Italy pay for it because they had two roadrunners on the wings and a central midfield packed with quality and dynamism. Croatia didn't have quick wide men, and while they obviously had talent in midfield, the likes of Modric and Marcelo Brozovic won't be mistaken for N'Golo Kante off the ball at this stage of their careers. And yet, Italy's pressing-and-possession setup -- even with the new 3-4-2-1 scheme -- seemed fragile.
Simply put, Spalletti can't have it both ways. You either adapt to your opponent or you make your opponent adapt to you. Zaccagni's improbable buzzer-beater gives Spalletti and Italy another chance to figure out who they want to be. -- Gabriele Marcotti