(Football news) With one eye on the approaching visit of the European champions, England head coach Gareth Southgate promised to keep some of his more experienced internationals under wraps on Friday night. A number of fringe players took to the field to test their mettle against Australia, though their three-point lead over the Azzurri is far from insurmountable. Southgate’s team could be just 90 minutes away from punching their ticket to Germany.
Though they had to endure a fright or two themselves, the toothless Three Lions struggled to break through the Socceroos defense, and the atmosphere at Wembley was particularly dull. However, with 12 minutes remaining in the second half, Ollie Watkins stuck out a leg to seal the victory at the back stick.
Debate raged over Southgate’s selection of players and tactics against Graham Arnold’s side, as is the case with any lackluster England performance, but a victory is a victory for the Three Lions, who now don their competitive caps with the opportunity to secure Euro 2024 qualification with two games remaining.
Ukraine may have broken England’s record of 100% on matchday five in Group C, but with 13 points to their name, the hosts can guarantee a top-two finish with just a win over Italy on Tuesday. Should Ukraine, who have played one more game than Malta, lose to their home minnows, a draw would also do.
Even if Southgate’s team is unable to finish the job by midweek, they will still have two more chances to win when they play Malta and North Macedonia next month. The Three Lions are currently enjoying an incredible 12-game winning streak in their home Euro qualifiers, with 10 of those games ending in clean sheets.
With the intention of ending that incredible record, Italy who, as a result of their disastrous antics in the Nations League Finals last year, also have a match scheduled against every team below them refused to allow a worrying illicit betting scandal to ruin their hopes of defeating the Maltese on Saturday.
Giacomo Bonaventura, 34, became the oldest player in history to score his first goal for the Azzurri in splendid fashion. Domenico Berardi then added two more goals of his own, both of which were sweetly struck, and with time running out, Davide Frattesi extended his scoring run in Italy’s colours to complete a comfortable 4-0 victory.
After Luciano Spalletti’s squad lost ground in the division last month, losing to Macedonia in a 1-1 tie, nothing less than a multi-goal thrashing would have sufficed for the Azzurri in Bari. However, Saturday’s victory has the champions back in second position.
Only head-to-head results separate Italy and fellow 10-point contenders Ukraine, so no decision regarding the Azzurri’s chances of finishing in the top two can be made before the end of the month. However, should they be relegated to a spot below the silver medal position, they will have their Nations League ranking as a fallback.
Though England avenged their heartbreak in the Euros final with a 2-1 victory in Naples seven months ago, the Azzurri faithful have few happy memories of their team’s most recent playoff exploits in World Cup qualifying, which ended in heartbreak in North Macedonia. Italy hasn’t lost a continental qualifier away from home since 2006.
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