Italy had a night to forget on Sunday as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of France in their final UEFA Nations League group game. France went ahead at the San Siro after just two minutes when midfielder Adrien Rabiot met Lucas Digne’s corner.
The visitors then doubled their lead after 33 minutes when Digne’s free-kick then hit the crossbar and rebounded in off Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Andrea Cambiaso’s cushioned volley moments later gave the hosts hope, but Rabiot and Digne linked up again after half-time to seal victory for the Azzurri, this time the Marseille midfielder heading in a Digne free-kick.
Related
Ange says £75k-per-week Tottenham ace “comes in on his days off” to train
He’s setting an example for his teammates.
The defeat was Italy’s biggest at home in a competitive game since 1983, and saw them forfeit the top spot in their Nations League group to France on goal difference. It means that heading into the quarter-finals, France will be seeded and Italy will not.
Speaking after the match, Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti said: “We saw some good things tonight too, but clearly this defeat creates some problems in terms of confidence.”
While Rabiot and Digne both certainly caught the eye for Les Bleus, it was keeper Vicario who did so for the Azzurri, albeit for the wrong reasons. All three of the goals Vicario conceded on the night were from set-pieces, which has become a worrying habit for the Tottenham Hotspur star in recent times.
Vicario also conceded from a set-piece in Italy’s 4-1 win over Israel last month, while for Spurs last season, he conceded no less than 16 times in the same manner.
As a result of his failures at set-plays against France, Vicario was named the worst player on the pitch by Sofa Score, while he also came under fire from a number of international journalists.
“Thought Donnarumma was bad at leaving his line but Vicario’s problems on set pieces are incredible,” wrote reporter Siavoush Fallahi on X/Twitter.
Carlo Garganese of The Italian Football Podcast was even harsher: “The last SIX goals Italy have conceded have been off set pieces. Italy have a brilliant group of centre backs – all of them great aerially – and Italy cannot defend crosses & set pieces 1 competitive clean sheet in a year. That’s on Spalletti. P.S. Vicario can’t play again for Italy.”
Deschamps happy with Nations League success
France were without Kylian Mbappe for the win over Italy, with manager Didier Deschamps having opted to leave the Real Madrid forward out of his squad for his side’s final round of Nations League games.
In Mbappe’s absence, Deschamps played a front three of Marcus Thuram, Randal Kolo Muani, and Christopher Nkunku, while youngster Bradley Barcola also came off the bench.
Speaking after the match, Deschamps explained how he was delighted with his forward line.
“It needed a bit of everything to win tonight,” he said. “I think using three strikers was decisive to help also defend well and create problems for Italy.”
