Italy drew coach Spalletti's debut match
* Scored: Enis Bardhi 81' - Immobile 47'
On August 13, Roberto Mancini suddenly resigned before accepting to lead the Saudi Arabia team, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) confirmed the appointment of Spaletti to replace him on a three-year contract. Spaletti is the second coach in the past 50 years to win Serie A and then lead Italy in the same year, after Antonio Conte in 2014.
At Todor Proeski Stadium on September 9, Italy started a new era when Spalletti used the familiar 4-3-3 formation. Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Pellegrini are absent due to injury, so Italy's attacking trio is Mattia Zaccagni, Ciro Immobile and Matteo Politano.
Italy continues to face many difficulties such as losing 0-1 in the play-off semi-finals to North Macedonia and missing out on tickets to the 2022 World Cup. "Azzurri" controlled the ball 73%, finished nine times with three shots on target - compared to 10 and 3 of North Macedonia.
Nicolo Barella put the ball into the net in the third minute, but the goal was not recognized because of offside. The first dangerous opportunity was created in the 15th minute, when Bryan Cristante headed wide from a corner kick.
Three minutes later, the home team responded with a counterattack on the left wing. Ezgjan Alioski accelerated from home and crossed to the far corner for Bojan Miovski to hit the post. In the next phase, Sandro Tonali broke the offside trap and shot the ball against the post.
The difference only came in the 47th minute, when Barella's volley hit the bar and bounced off just right for Immobile to head into an empty net. Immobile scored three goals against North Macedonia - his best performance against an opponent in an Italian shirt. Furthermore, the 33-year-old striker's first two goals were both scored with his head.
However, Italy still could not win in Spalletti's debut match. In the 81st minute, from a free kick 25 meters away to the left wing, striker wearing shirt number 10 Enis Bardhi shot over the fence to the far corner, beyond goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's range, setting the score 1- first.
Three of Italy's last four coaches failed to win their opening match. Before Spalletti's draw, Gian Piero Ventura and Luigi Di Biagio even failed in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Only Mancini broke this record with a friendly match. won 2-1 against Saudi Arabia in May 2018.
Spalletti said that Italy played well on a field of substandard quality, and half-joked about losing sleep before the team's debut. The 64-year-old coach affirmed that Italy will play better when they return home to San Siro to host Ukraine on September 12 and revealed that striker Giacomo Raspadori will start. Italy is currently third in Group C with four points through three matches, Ukraine has seven points through four matches and England leads with 13 points through five matches.
