“Euro 2024 qualifiers”: Italy breathes a sigh of relief by qualifying with the Czech Republic and Slovenia

Italy, the entire defending champion, breathed a sigh of relief and avoided the nightmare of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups by qualifying for the European Cup finals scheduled for next summer in Germany, by tying with its “host” Ukraine 0-0 on Monday in the German city of Leverkusen in the final round of the third group competitions.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Italian team found itself in an unenviable position again, as it entered the last two rounds in third place, three points behind Ukraine, which played a match more than them.

He succeeded in the first test when he broke the knot of North Macedonia, which played a role in his absence from the 2022 World Cup after eliminating it from the semi-finals of the continental playoff, by defeating it 5-2 on Friday to snatch second place from Ukraine by the difference in the direct confrontation between them, due to its victory at home 2-1 on September 12 ( Last September.

Italy played Monday’s match in Leverkusen, where Ukraine played the home match due to the Russian invasion, and its fate was in its hands, as it only needed a draw to join England, runner-up and leader of the group, to the finals scheduled for the period from June 14 to July 14, 2024.

Coach Luciano Spalletti’s men achieved this after a breathtaking match, especially in the last minutes that saw Ukraine take control and demand a penalty kick.

And “for the sake of our people, for the sake of Italy,” according to what the national team’s account on the (X) platform wrote, “Azzuri” avoided the hardship of the playoffs that took him out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia at the hands of Sweden and the 2022 Qatar World Cup at the hands of North Macedonia, and joined the ranks of the qualifying teams. To the finals with its first draw versus six wins in seven official confrontations with Ukraine, which failed to obtain a qualification ticket due to the two direct confrontations with Spalletti’s men, and will be forced to play in the playoff.

After the difficult qualification, Italy’s captain and goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, seemed optimistic by saying, “We are going to Germany to win” the title, explaining to the Italian “Rai” channel, “We are very happy.” After all the difficulties we have faced, we too will be in Germany and we will go there as European champions in order to win, in order to return home with something.”

He pointed out that “the matter was achieved after suffering, but this group showed all its strength,” stressing, “This qualification is important for our team and our country.”

As for Spalletti, he said, “Things were not easy. We played a good match and created many chances, but we were unable to score the goal that would have allowed us to qualify.”

Ukraine was the most dangerous, starting with Viktor Tsygankov with a long shot that found Donnarumma on its way, then Federico Chiesa responded with a shot from close range that went over the crossbar.

Donnarumma returned and saved Italy by blocking a long shot by Heorhi Sudakov, and Nicolo Barella responded with a similar opportunity from a longer distance, and Anatoly Trobin excelled in blocking it, then Giovanni Di Lorenzo followed with a header that passed near the left post, Davide Fratesi alone, but Trobin excelled in defending his goal, and Federco Dimarco with an attempt from A difficult angle that did not find its way to the goal (31).

“Breathtaking ending”The goalless draw remained the dominant situation until the end of the first half, then Italy began the second, searching for a goal to calm the nerves of its fans, but it almost came from the other side after a grave error by Donnarumma, who returned and remedied the situation by blocking Mykhailo Modric’s attempt.

As we entered the final quarter of an hour, tension increased, especially among the Italians, for fear of a repeat of the 2022 World Cup playoff nightmare, when they lost to Macedonia 0-1 with a goal in stoppage time. This scenario almost happened after the Ukrainians demanded a penalty kick, but the referee demanded the continuation of play and did not intervene. In A.R.”

In the end, Spalletti’s men took the match to safety and earned the point that took them to Germany next summer.

In Skopje, England settled for a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia.

England ended the first half trailing with a goal scored by Ennis Bardhi in the 41st minute after he took a penalty kick caused by Rico Lewis and Jordan Pickford excelled in blocking it, but the ball returned to the same player and he shot it into the net.

But Harry Kane, in his first touch of the ball after coming on as a substitute, equalized for coach Gareth Southgate’s team after the ball reached him from Phil Foden, with the help of Yanni Atanasov, from whom the ball went into his team’s net.

«Czechia and Slovenia qualify»The Czech Republic also qualified by defeating its guest, Moldova, 3-0, in Group E, thanks to goals by David Dodera, Thomas Khoury, and Tomas Soucek.

The Czech Republic finished the qualifiers in second place, with a difference in the two direct matches, behind Albania, the first card holder, which tied negatively with its host, the Faroe Islands.

The Czech Republic only needed a draw to secure the second ticket after it returned with a valuable draw from its host Poland 1-1 on Friday and deprived the teammates of Barcelona’s Spanish striker Robert Lewandowski from being present in the continental tournament.

Slovenia booked its ticket for the second time in its history by defeating its guest, Kazakhstan, 2-1, in the eighth group. Within the qualifiers for the edition scheduled in Germany next summer.

Benjamin Sisco gave Slovenia the lead in the minute, and Kazakhstan responded through Ramazan Orazov, before Benjamin Verbic snatched the winning goal in the 86th minute.

Slovenia only needed a draw to win the second place in the group after it was the first for Denmark, which suffered a marginal defeat on Monday against its host Northern Ireland 0-2.

The number of teams qualified from the qualifiers rose to 19, namely Spain and Scotland (first group), France and the Netherlands (second), England and Italy (third), Turkey (fourth), Albania and Czechia (fifth), Belgium and Austria (sixth), Hungary and Serbia (seventh), Denmark and Slovenia (eighth), and Romania. Switzerland (ninth), Portugal and Slovakia (tenth), in addition to Germany, the host and automatic qualifier.