Italy’s Depleted Lineup Just off the Pace but Deserved More from Draw in Croatia

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 12, 2015

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The Italy we saw in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Croatia certainly wasn't the crisp, active side seen at the beginning of Antonio Conte's reign as CT.

Conte's team lacked the likes of Marco Verratti, Giorgio Chiellini and Daniele De Rossi, and it showed in their play.  Those injured players' replacements were consistently just off the pace.  The passes were just a little too far or too short, the runs were just a little bit overplayed, and, as the game progressed, the energy level fell off.

That said, the Azzurri will leave Split having a legitimate claim that all three points—and first place in the group—should have been theirs.

The sequence in question came in the 10th minute.  Right-back Lorenzo De Silvestri surged forward and slipped a ball into the box that Graziano Pelle managed to flip back to AC Milan winger Stephan El Shaarawy, who tipped the ball cooly into the net.  But his celebrations were abruptly ended when he noticed the assistant holding up his flag.

It's impossible to see how any infraction could have been seen.  Replays showed El Shaarawy was comfortably onside on both the initial cross and after Pelle's flick.  The decision absolutely beggared belief.

Even more puzzling was the fact that referee Martin Atkinson allowed play to begin so quickly.  The Croatians capitalized on several Italians being out of position to argue the call, and Mario Mandzukic easily tucked a tap-in past Gianluigi Buffon to give the Vatreni a 1-0 lead, when the scoreline should have been flipped.

To their credit, the Italians responded well.  They started earning free-kicks in dangerous positions and got into the Croatian box with consistency.



In the 32nd minute the equalizer nearly came.  Claudio Marchisio made an impressive run down the left-hand channel and released Pelle deep into the box.  The South...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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