Italy is the third country to reach the UEFA Nations League semi-finals
Italy managed to reach the semi-finals of the European Nations League, following beating Hungary, in Budapest, with two clean goals.
The Italian national team denied Hungary from reaching the same round, following the hosts and their coach, Marco Rossi, needed one point to achieve their goal of reaching the semi-finals.
Thanks to a defensive error from the Hungarian players, Giacomo Rasbadori scored the goal for Italy in the 27th minute, following he hit the ball easily, into the empty goal.
Federico Demarco consolidated the victory with the second goal, in the 52nd minute, following a cross cross in the heart of the penalty area, from Brian Cristante.
With this result, Italy took the lead in group “A3”, with 11 points, from 6 matches, followed by Hungary, then Germany in third place, and finally England in fourth place.
The Italian victory was also the first in the history of official matches between the two teams, in Budapest, since 1996.
Despite some great interventions by Italian goalkeeper Donnarumma, who saved his net from some dangerous opportunities for Hungary, the Italian team, in general, performed well, and deserved to win the match.
Thus, Italy, which failed to qualify for the next World Cup, in Qatar, will join the Netherlands and Croatia in the semi-finals, waiting for the winner of the match between Portugal and Spain, on Tuesday, in Braga, to settle the fourth and final seat in The semi-finals.
The semi-finals will take place in June / June next year, while the final date has not yet been set.
As for Adam Zalai, the captain of the Hungarian national team, who announced his retirement from international football following the match, it seems that he is looking forward to starting his coaching field.
“I can’t imagine until the moment that it was my last international match,” the 34-year-old said. “I tried to focus for the entire ninety minutes.”
He added, “We missed a great opportunity, although if we look at what we have already reached, it would have been enough, and we must thank Marco Rossi – the Italian coach of the Hungary national team – who developed the team’s performance, beyond the possibilities available.”
