Italy historical advantage over England ahead of Euro2020 finals.
“Panenka” by Pirlo. Schillaci Gold Shoe Installer. Another moving ceremony from Marco Tardelli.
The biggest competition – if you can call it that – between Italy and England is marked with a number of times, and both are Italian.
In four meetings at the World Cup or the European Championships, the Azzurri have won three and qualified through penalty kicks for the other.
England could have a home advantage in the Euro 2020 final between those teams tomorrow at Wembley Stadium but historically Italy has an advantage.
“We know the magnitude of the task,” England coach Gareth Southgate said. “It’s the biggest test we can have. This is not a typical international tournament. In fact, they only met once in a knockout match in a major tournament and that was in 2012, when Italy won 4-2 on penalties in Kiev – after a 0-0 draw in extra time – in England’s final pain.
It will be best remembered for the “Panenka” penalty taken badly by the elegant midfielder Andrea Pirlo in the middle of the shootout. England got lucky for playing a lot of games.
It’s been a topic.
The first game between England and Italy in the tournament came at Euro 1980, when Tardelli led the ball almost to finish former goalkeeper Peter Shilton giving the Azzurri a 1-0 victory. In their second group game.
After scoring Italy’s second goal in a 3-1 victory over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final Tardelli is best known for celebrating the uproar. rolling down and holding his head in his hands.
In 1990, the teams met for third place in a World Cup qualifier in Italy. It looks like the game no one wants to play, coming soon after the semi-final defeat, but at least it gave Italian striker Salvatore Schillaci a chance to become the tournament’s top scorer. And he took it, turning the penalty in the 86th minute to give Italy a 2-1 victory and finish with six goals, one more than Czechoslovakia striker Tomas Skuhravy.
The only other meeting of the tournament was in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup and the Italians won again, with Mario Balotelli’s second half giving them a 2-1 victory by destroying Manaus in the Amazon rainforest. From Brazil.
Since then there have been two 1-1 draws in friendly matches, none of which were played until Roberto Mancini became Italy’s manager in May 2018.
The overall record wins 11 wins for Italy and eight wins for England out of a total of 27 matches. Unbeaten in the first eight meetings, England have managed just one win in the last seven.
Under Mancini, Italy ranks 33 games unbeaten – a national record.
“They’ve been the best team in the last few years,” Southgate said.
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