There is no more confusing international camp in the world than Italy. In my lifetime, Italy have been world champions (2006) and Euro champions (2021), but they have also missed the last two World Cups and exited in embarrassing fashion at the previous two (2010 and 2014, both in the group). scene). Each tournament is a new opportunity for the Azzurri to redefine themselves.
To start Euro 2024, Italy played a mediocre match against Albania, losing 1-0 in the first minute before regaining a 2-1 lead which they would protect for 74 long minutes. Then came Spain, and Spain beat Italy, winning only 1-0 thanks to poor finishing. However, thanks to the 2-2 draw between Croatia and Albania, Italy was ready to take the path of least resistance in the final group match: a draw against Croatia would be enough to put Italy through , assuming (correctly) that Albania would not. beat even a rotating Spain.
Something as simple as a draw can happen in many ways, and Italy certainly made Monday’s match as exciting and confusing as possible before finally seizing this very important point. Italy won against Croatia and created chances throughout a first half marked by both Italian fluidity and Croatian passivity. The Italians couldn’t score and put this one away early, which left the door open for Luka Modric to, perhaps for the last time, assert his will in a Croatian tournament match.
Football is great in many ways, but it has never been as good as other sports when it comes to player retirements. Given the nature of the sport – where players first retire from international competition before retiring globally, and where retirements from football clubs are usually preceded by trips to lower leagues – it is difficult to have a clear moment of celebration for a heralded player. It is extremely rare for a top player to retire at the top, and even rarer for them to do so after making a landmark moment.
Modric almost arrived at this rare farewell on Monday. The 38-year-old Croatian midfield legend has done everything that could reasonably be expected of someone who was not born in a traditional European football powerhouse. He won the Ballon d’Or. He reached one World Cup final and a semi-final the next time. He has won six Champions League titles. Even at 38, with his long-time midfield partner Toni Kroos departing (Kroos could retire legendary if Germany win this tournament at home), Modric will return to Real Madrid next season, as captain and figurehead, if not as a real contributor.
He was real and he did contribute to Croatia’s hopes in this tournament; Even with his legs failing him and his ability to play high-octane 90-minute matches almost completely diminished, Modric was still the conductor. The Croatians won the Group B xG battle, even against Spain and their five actual goals, but Croatia only managed three goals and two points in three matches.
It could have, perhaps should have, been four points. After that sluggish first half, in which Croatia controlled the ball with little urgency, Modric and his friends came out of the half with more determination.
For 10 minutes to start the second game, Croatia probed and prodded and were finally rewarded, as a curling attempt at the back post from Andrej Kramaric collided with the arm of Davide Frattesi, giving Croatia a penalty. Modric stepped up to the spot, but was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who in my opinion has been Italy’s best player of these Euros.
Football is a fun sport, as Modric would get his redemption two minutes later. A swinger from Luka Sucic entered the area unscathed, and Ante Budimir was only able to push it directly at Donnarumma. While the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper had done an incredible job of not only saving the penalty but also keeping it out of danger, here he was only able to do the former. His save flew off his arm and into the path of Modric, who latched onto the loose ball with his weaker left foot and propelled Croatia to a 1-0 lead:
After Modric’s goal, Italy woke up in earnest and began to string together attack after attack, but the Croatian defense held firm. In fact, they held out for so long that it seemed Modric had done it again; even though he was on the sidelines having been substituted after 81 minutes, the camera continued to track him down, perhaps with false confidence that it would capture the moment when Modric’s international career came to an end. not END.
But history was written the other way around, and the final punctuation came as late and as loudly as it could have: in the 97th minute, Riccardo Calafiori, a central defender by trade, but to whom we leave everything freedom in the game of Luciano Spalletti. system for charging the pitch with or without the ball – received the ball just inside the midfield circle and spotted enough space to penetrate it, ultimately sucking in enough Croatian defenders to create some magic. Calafiori saw that the tightening of the checked shirts opened up enough space for a pass to Mattia Zaccagni, a little-used Italian international (seven caps at 29) who plays in his club football for Lazio. Zaccagni adjusted his body perfectly before Calafiori’s pass and, without even touching to stabilize himself, hit a perfect curler into the side net.
The goal was absurd, in many ways: it was a central defender who created the chance; that Zaccagni’s first-ever goal for the Azzurri was not just a crucial equalizer, but a magnificent tournament-saving strike; that Croatia couldn’t hold on for another 30 seconds. Long a nation that plays well against the continent’s best teams without ever rising above second place, Croatia’s hopes of remaining in this tournament are all but extinguished. The Czech Republic and Georgia must both lose, and England must beat Slovenia by at least three goals.
Maybe it happens, or maybe Modric’s last image as a Croatian national team player will be of him holding the Player of the Match trophy with barely concealed tears in his eyes. This ending is as cruel for Croatia as it is euphoric for Italy, and while I’m sad to see Modric go, if this is how it plays out, I’m glad Italy continues to carry its chaos especially until the round of 16. For at least one more match, the reigning champions are still alive.