Argentina – Italy play the Finalissima: schedule, TV and formations of the match at Wembley

An engaging date. A duel with history. This Wednesday, from 3:45 p.m., the selection of the Argentina will face Italia on the Final, the cup that is put into play between the last champions of the Copa América and the European Championship. The match will be played at Wembley, the legendary stadium located in the capital of England, and will be directed by Piero Maza and televised by ESPN.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina will have a very demanding test that will serve as a test bench for the Qatar World Cup. And the rival is quite a question mark, because Italy is still bruised after failing to qualify for the World Cup, but it is still a very careful rival with top-level footballers.

Following the example of Copa Artemio Franchiwhich was played twice (1985 and 1993), Conmebol and UEFA, within the framework of their good relations and a collaboration agreement, decided to give new life to a tournament that would decide the ‘super champion’ between the monarchs of the two confederations with the greatest tradition and history in world football.

Argentina he won the 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup, with Diego Maradona, beating Denmark in a penalty shootout in Mar del Plata. Now, hand in hand with Messi, he will aspire to lift another intercontinental trophy, less than a year after winning the Copa América in Brazil.

Italia He earned his right to be in this Finalissima by winning the European Championship in July last year, beating England in the final in a penalty shootout at Wembley, precisely the stadium where this Wednesday’s game is played.

However, Italians and Argentines arrive with very different sensations. Argentina, with a new impetus from the hand of its coach Lionel Scaloni, qualified for the World Cup without difficulty and in the last game against Ecuador (1-1), in March, managed to equal its official record for consecutive games without losing, the 31 achieved by Alfio Basile’s team between 1991 and 1993. The ‘Scaloneta’ can now leave that mark behind, almost three decades later. “We have to be prepared to know that a moment of difficulty may come, even if everything is going smoothly now,” warned Scaloni during the last window of the World Cup qualifiers in the South American zone.

In Italy, the situation is very different. The title in the European Championship and a streak of 37 games without losing between September 2018 and October 2021 had triggered the euphoria, but everything stopped when the Italian team lost to Spain in the semifinals of the League of Nations and especially when they failed in the qualifiers to qualify for the World Cup, just as it happened on the way to Russia 2018.

First, in their European qualifying stage group, Italy was plagued with doubts in the last few games and saw Switzerland take first place and the only direct place in Qatar 2022. Italy was then relegated to a play-off in the one that had to win two games, but already in the first one slipped tol lose 1-0 to North Macedoniawhich consummated the disaster.

The coach Roberto Mancini for this Finalissima and for the other duels of the team in June, in the League of Nations, in which the return of Leonardo Spinazzola stands out, who was one of the outstanding men of the team in the last European Championship and who was sidelined for most of the season due to injury. The veteran Giorgio Chiellini, 37, aspires to say goodbye to the Italian team with a trophy. Italian figures such as Ciro Immobile or Federico Chiesa will not be present due to injury.

For its part, Argentina was preparing this Finalissima in a concentration set up in Bilbao. Scaloni had his best men for this call, since in addition to the duel with Italy he will play a friendly against Estonia, next Sunday.

The coach of Italy, Roberto Mancini, He spoke this Tuesday, on the eve of the Finalissima of his team against Argentina. The DT of the Azzurra expressed that Lionel Messi is still “the best in football” and the man to watch more closely because it can “change a game in a second.”

“In Italy we lived many years with (Diego) Maradona and Messi is like him, one of the best of all time”, estimated Mancini in the press conference prior to the training of his Nazionale at Wembley Stadium. “This season he may not score as many goals because he changed teams (from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain) and country, maybe he needs a little more time. But I think he is the best. This Wednesday we will have to be very careful with him because he can change a game in a second”, he explained.

Mancini made his opinion clear about what this duel will be: “It’s good to be able to play this game. Italy and Argentina, is a classic of world football. It’s going to be a great match,” he predicted. “It is a great team, full of champions. He plays at a very technical level and it’s not going to be easy, I’m curious to see how the game unfolds,” said the former Manchester City and Inter Milan manager.

The Italian coach indicated that in Wednesday’s game he will use the base of the players who won the European Championship last year, by way of recognition, and that in the following games of the month, corresponding to the League of Nations, he will make changes and give more opportunities for young people or new faces, thinking about rebuilding their project after the World Cup fiasco. “It is the end of a cycle, but that does not mean that fifteen or twenty players are going to disappear. After tomorrow’s game some youngsters are going to come in because we need them to play”, said Mancini.

The Azzurra coach admitted that it was “exciting” to return to Wembley, the place where his team won the European Championship in July 2021. “It is an impressive stadium, especially for us. A year ago we were here celebrating for having been European champions. Those memories move us very much, ”he assured.