CNN Indonesia
Tuesday, 21 Nov 2023 04:41 WIB
Alessandro Buongiorno was one of the Italian defenders who was busy repelling Ukrainian attacks in the European Cup Qualification match. (REUTERS/THILO SCHMUELGEN)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Italian national team Ukraine in the final match of the group stage Euro 2024 Qualification at BayArena Stadium, Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday (21/11) early morning WIB.
The match was fierce. From the moment referee Jesus Gil Manzano blew the kick off whistle, Italy and Ukraine tried to play attacking football.
Italy and Ukraine are both hunting for direct tickets to the 2024 European Cup with runner-up status in Group C, while England, who leads the standings, has already secured one ticket.
Ukraine led by Mykhalio Mudryk made the Italian defense unable to relax. Opportunities from Mudryk and Georgiy Sudakov that goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma can still handle.
Meanwhile, Italy relied on the trio of Federico Chiesa, Giacomo Raspadori and Nicolo Zaniolo to create opportunities. The Gli Azzurri players had a series of chances, but poor finishing meant Italy couldn’t score.
Nicolo Barella had a chance with a long-range shot which Anatolii Trubin was able to parry.
Entering the second half Italy seemed to dominate possession of the ball. Ukraine must defend carefully. This situation made it difficult for Italy to create golden opportunities.
After an hour of the match passed, Ukraine slowly threatened Italy’s goal again. Donnarumma almost made a mistake because he miscalculated to anticipate a pass, fortunately the PSG goalkeeper was able to pay for the mistake by closing Mudryk’s space.
Ukraine continued to attack Italy until the final seconds of the match, but no goals were scored. A draw ensures that Italy will advance to the finals of Euro 2024. Meanwhile, Ukraine still has a chance to qualify for the European Cup through the play-offs.
Meanwhile, in another match, England was held to a draw by North Macedonia. Harry Kane answered Enis Bardhi’s goal.
From the Group E match, the Czech Republic booked their ticket to Euro 2024 after beating Moldova 3-0.
Slovenia also gained certainty of competing in a prestigious event between European countries on the final qualifying matchday after beating Kazakhstan 2-1 in the Group H match.
(nva/nva)
2023-11-20 21:41:50
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