European Football Championship - Defending champions Italy suffer a debacle - elimination against Switzerland
The players apologized to the fans with a bowed head to Gianluigi Buffon, who stared blankly into space for minutes. A completely outmatched Italy deservedly lost to the strong-performing Swiss in the EURO 2024 round of 16, with a score of 0:2 (0:1) in front of 68,172 spectators in Berlin. The selection led by trainer Luciano Spalletti was lucky not to lose by more.
Remo Freuler (37th minute) and Ruben Vargas of Augsburg decided the game for the German group stage opponent, whose players jumped around in euphoria to the EM hit "Freed from Desire" after the final whistle. Switzerland will face the winner of the England vs. Slovakia match in the quarterfinals on July 6 in Düsseldorf.
For Italy, however, it's the end of the EURO 2024. "We lacked the rhythm and freshness that make the difference. We're not capable of showing more than this right now," admitted Italy coach Spalletti after the disappointing performance and announced a conversation with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina about his future. "The responsibility lies with the coach, I made the decisions," said Spalletti.
The end of the road for Italy
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma spoke plainly. "It hurts to be eliminated like this. We deserved it and it's hard to process. Today everything was missing, the quality, the courage," said the 25-year-old, adding dejectedly: "We can only apologize to our fans. This is unacceptable, we were bad all game. This is reality, we have to accept it."
The mood was completely different among the winners. "We've shown another great performance and deserve to have moved on," said team captain Manuel Akanji. And midfielder Fabien Rieder rejoiced: "We've put in an incredible team performance. Everyone ran for each other. The mechanisms were great, we harmonized well, defensively and offensively. Now we want to enjoy the win, but we won't get carried away."
Eighteen years after the 2006 World Cup triumph, the Italians returned to Berlin full of anticipation - and experienced a huge disappointment. The Squadra Azzurra was inferior in every aspect and suffered their first loss against Switzerland since 1993. The exciting football that Italy played in 2021 to win the EURO and beat Switzerland 3:0 in the group stage was nowhere to be seen.
Spalletti's changes had no effect
Italy failed to make it to the best eight teams for the first time since 2004 in an EURO and experienced another low after the missed World Cups in 2018 and 2022. Switzerland convinced once again, as they had in the 1:1 against the DFB team in the group stage, and qualified for the EURO quarterfinals for the second year in a row. The selection of former Bundesliga professional Murat Yakin earned the win in front of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA CEO Aleksander Ceferin with a focused performance.
Spalletti changed the system and switched positions numerous times after the disappointing 1:1 against Croatia to hope for more offensive thrust. However, his measures had no effect - on the contrary.
Faults, misunderstandings and too many ball losses marked the offensive play of Azzurri, a well-structured build-up of the game hardly came about. Switzerland dominated the game, but utilized the helplessness of the deep-lying Italians hardly enough. A shot from Breel Embolo after a pass from Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka was parried strongly by Captain Donnarumma (24.). The Keeper was once again a secure backbone and encouraged his teammates with gestures.
Freuler came close to scoring about ten minutes later, but couldn't prevent the deficit. Donnarumma then deflected a free-kick from Rieder just in time onto the post (45.+1). Spalletti stood helplessly at the sidelines with his hands in his pockets and watched the action unfold indifferently.
Spalletti made substitutions at half-time, but nothing improved for Italy. Just 27 seconds after the restart, Vargas was barely attacked in front of the goal and shot beautifully into the right upper corner from the penalty area. The Swiss only had to briefly tense up when Fabian Schär hit the post with a header (52.) and when Gianluca Scamacca hit the post (74.). The Italians now had more ball possession, but were far from the equalizer.
- Italy's defeat in Berlin marked the first time since 2004 that they failed to advance to the best eight teams in an EURO tournament.
- The Swiss team, coached by former Bundesliga professional Murat Yakin, had a focused performance in front of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA CEO Aleksander Ceferin.
- The EURO 2024 round of 16 match between Italy and Switzerland was played in front of 68,172 spectators, with Gianluigi Donnarumma as the Italian goalkeeper.
- Remo Freuler scored the opening goal for Switzerland in the 37th minute, and Ruben Vargas of Augsburg added the second goal in the 46th second of the second half.
- Italy's coach, Luciano Spalletti, admitted after the game that his team lacked rhythm and freshness, and announced a conversation with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina about his future.
- The Italian team apologized to their fans for their poor performance, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saying they deserved to be eliminated and it was hard to process.
- The UEFA EURO 2024 quarterfinals will see Switzerland face the winner of the England vs. Slovakia match on July 6 in Düsseldorf.
- August's German city was the venue for the Round of 16 match between Italy and Switzerland, with Augsburg's Ruben Vargas scoring one of the goals.
- Italian coach Luciano Spalletti changed the system and switched positions numerous times after the disappointing 1:1 match against Croatia, but his measures had no effect on the team's performance.
- The Swiss team, which outplayed Italy in every aspect, performed similarly against the DFB team in the group stage, earning a 1:1 draw and advancing to the EURO quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
