Luciano Spalletti said Italy have no fear about a “game with no tomorrow” against Ukraine next month with the reigning European champions knowing a defeat in their final qualification fixture will force them to face the jeopardy of the Euro 2024 playoffs.
A 3-1 loss to England at Wembley, coupled with Ukraine’s 3-1 win away to Malta, has left Italy in third place with two games left to play in Group C.
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Italy face North Macedonia, who eliminated the Azzurri from the World Cup playoffs last year, in Rome on Nov. 17 before playing Ukraine in Leverkusen, Germany, three days later.
A win for Ukraine will be enough to secure qualification for Serhiy Rebrov’s team and consign Italy to the playoffs.
But despite Italy missing out on qualification for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups following playoff exits, coach Spalletti is backing his players to get the job done against North Macedonia and Ukraine next month.
“I am not afraid of anything and I would be very surprised if the players showed any fear,” Spalletti said in a post-match press conference at Wembley. “It is only natural that you play games like these where there is no tomorrow, no second chances.
“Tonight’s result is not going to tell us we can’t be daring or play the game we want, but there are situations like the third [England] goal where the player could bring the ball down 40 yards away and beat two players.
“We are trying to press the opposition, force them to play it long, but when they do we have to defend better than we did for the third goal.
“Occasionally our attitude was found wanting, we didn’t manage certain situations and that enabled England to score. We didn’t deserve to lose by two goals, but we need to grow as a team. Our decision making wasn’t good enough.”
Spalletti replaced previous coach Roberto Mancini in August after the former Manchester City and Inter Milan manager resigned to take charge of Saudi Arabia.
And he said that he may have to change Italy’s style of play if his players are unable to make the current approach work.
“If we are able to complete what we are doing with our intention, we can play at a good level,” Spalletti said. “But if we continue to drop to edge of our box and let opponent dictate play, we need a radical rethink, go back to square one and change our mentality as a team and that will take more time.”