The Spalletti era ended with a victory that no one cheered for

The tricolore arrived at the Tricolore Stadium, but the Italian team was already standing on the edge of the cliff.

A brass band came to the center of the stadium and played the Italian national anthem, and the fans sang along.

The overall voice was a bit immature: children occupied a large proportion of the audience. Obviously, they had never seen the Italian team play in the World Cup.

For Raspadori and Frattesi, playing at the Tricolore Stadium also means "going home".

It was in Sassuolo that they began to attract attention with their performance and won the call-up of the national team.

Luca, a local friend from Reggio Emilia, recalled: In the summer of 2022, Raspadori transferred from Sassuolo to Naples. At that time, the Sassuolo base was filled with a joyful atmosphere, and the club staff were happy for him-the young man nicknamed "Jack" finally took an important step in his career.

In the next three years, Raspadori won two Serie A titles, but never really earned his place in Naples.

He almost left the team this winter, but after staying, he showed unimaginable energy. When Kvara left, Neres was injured, and Conte had almost no one available, he repeatedly stepped up.

Without his five golden goals, Naples would have had little chance of winning the league.

Even so, when recalling the fourth Serie A title in Napoli's history, few people would think of Laspadori's name at the first time.

This is a true reflection of the situation of this generation of Italian players.

They became famous at a young age, had great ambitions, and after working hard to reach the other side, they found that the scene was much rougher than they imagined.

Another former Sassuolo player who returned to his hometown, Frattesi, also raised the tricolor shield after joining Inter Milan, and eliminated Bayern and Barcelona with goals in the Champions League, but the coveted starting position is still far away from him.

After the disastrous defeat in Munich, the angry Frattesi directly asked coach Inzaghi: "Why don't you let me play for a minute?"

With his ambitions yet to be fulfilled, Frattesi is thinking about the future, and the national team is his comfort zone.

This is Spalletti's last game: in the past two years, Spalletti has more failures than successes, more mistakes than tricks, and Frattesi is one of the few bright spots.

He scored a total of 7 goals in the Spalletti era, making him the leading scorer of the national team.

However, this time, Frattesi failed to replicate the magic: he made a pass error shortly after the start, and his feeling in front of the goal was not the best.

Throughout the first half, he frequently wedged into the opponent's penalty area like a genuine striker, leaving Ricci and Tonali to partner up - this was not enough for the Italian to ensure control of the game.

A tough victory

Italy did not even have a clear advantage against Moldova at home.

No. 9 Nicolaescu of the visiting team scored a goal in the 9th minute, but unfortunately he was slightly offside when receiving a cross from his teammate on the left. The Tricolore Stadium held its breath in despair, and then breathed a sigh of relief after the referee cancelled the goal.

The Italians who escaped the disaster tried to respond quickly, but their continuous short passes always went wrong. Retegui, who was in the center position, could not find the direction of the goal and could not play a reliable receiving point.

Moldovans may wonder: Is this really the top scorer in Serie A?

The Italians almost returned to the midfield locker room with a blank sheet - if so, Spalletti's last halftime break as the national team coach was destined to be spent in an extremely depressing and anxious atmosphere.

At the critical moment, Raspadori once again performed superbly: from the gorgeous dribbling at the beginning of the game, he has been one of the most active players on the Italian field.

In the 40th minute, it was Raspadori's volley in the penalty area that kicked the home team out of the quagmire.

This is certainly not an Italy that can make opponents despair when leading 1-0.

Moldova, which fell behind, tried to respond: before the end of the first half, they attacked with two corner kicks and threatened the Italian goal three times: Donnarumma saved a powerful shot, Dimarco stopped a ball in front of the goal line, and another shot whizzed past the far post.

There are a considerable number of Moldovan immigrants in Italy, many of whom happen to live in the economically developed Emilia-Romagna region. With the cheers of many visiting fans, they played very courageously.

In the second half, Moldova scored another header, but it was just a hair's breadth away. A minute later, the Italians extended the lead and finally won the game awkwardly: Cambiasso scored, and Fratesi assisted him, but it was Orsolini who made the threatening attack from the right side.

He came on as a substitute after halftime, symbolizing the Italian team's change from 3421 to 433. This Bologna winger, who had been ignored by Spalletti for a long time and openly made a "knock on the door" gesture after scoring a goal, became the last key adjustment made by Spalletti as the national team coach.

Winning but embarrassing

There is nothing to celebrate.

In vertical comparison, the last time Italy played Moldova was a friendly match in early autumn of 2020, which was also related to Sassuolo players.

In that game, Caputo, Berardi and Locatelli all started, and the first two scored goals. The Azzurri, who played with a substitute lineup, won 6-0.

In horizontal comparison, Norway's opponent in the first group match was Moldova. Haaland and his teammates won 5 goals away in Chisinau, while the Italians only won 2 this time.

No matter how bad the Italian team is, they still have a chance to win and tie their opponents in the standings in the last round of the group against Norway at home, but once the World Cup qualifying group is tied, they will compare the goal difference!

Have the Italians forgotten this?

Probably not. This team is just in a low state, too exhausted, too depressed, and the small matter of winning against Moldova has exhausted all their energy.

Or ability, the Spalletti era of the national team ended with a victory that no one cheered for, just like the experience itself: Spalletti took over when he was in danger, and left without taking a penny, but such an attitude was not enough to win him cheers and applause.

Before the game, Ranieri's face had already appeared on the small screen in the media booth of the Tricolore Stadium.

It seems that Ranieri has accepted the invitation of the Italian Football Association. His choice deserves everyone's hat-tip salute, but compassion and responsibility are not synonymous with "magic".

In Reggio Emilia, the Italian team has maintained a historical undefeated record so far, with a total of 14 goals in 5 games and no goals conceded during the period.

What the statistics may not tell you is that the opponents in these 5 games are Lithuania (twice), Israel, Poland and today's Moldova.

If they really get second place in the group, will the superstitious Italians deliberately play their home game in Reggio Emilia in the play-offs?

The Italian team may be more anxious and helpless than three years ago, but this place is far away from Palermo after all. I hope there will be no North Macedonia and Trajkovski this time.

#by 캡포탈#