Italy had not been able to win its previous 3 confrontations with North Macedonia. The elimination from the last World Cup by the North Macedonians in particular still left a bad taste in Italian mouths.
But with national coach Spalletti on the bench, the Italians were on target this time. Federico Chiesa was the man of the first half, with numerous dazzling actions, passes and, above all, 2 goals.
Negative standout for the Italians was midfielder Jorginho, who once again missed an important (in retrospect, unimportant) penalty.
North Macedonia continued to suffer in the 2nd half. Goalkeeper Dimitrievski joined Chiesa in the list of standouts. Substitute Jani Atanasov, striker at Krakow, also did this emphatically by scoring twice.
Suddenly it became a bit grim in the Stadio Olimpico, also because substitute Zaniolo (ex-AS Roma) was whistled at by his own fans at every touch of the ball.
Salvation came in the last 10 minutes. Thanks to goals from Raspadori and El Shaarawy, Italy not only took the deserved victory, but also ensured that one point against Ukraine on Monday would be enough for qualification. If that doesn’t work, there is still the (dangerous) safety net of the jump-offs.
