Italy 1-2 England: England took a big step towards Euro 2024 on Thursday evening. In and against Italy, Gareth Southgate’s team won 1-2. Thanks to goals from Declan Rice and Harry Kane, who set a record. A goal by Mateo Retegui could not inspire a comeback.
Accurate Italian debutant can’t spoil record evening Kane
Italy, with the naturalized Argentinian acquisition Mateo Retegui at the forefront, quickly proved impotent against England in Naples after a reasonable start. Within fifteen minutes it was a hit for Gareth Southgate’s team. A corner kick was mishandled and landed at Rice’s feet. The man from West Ham United convincingly scored the 0-1.
Things got even worse for the Italians, a few minutes before the break Giovanni Di Lorenzo conceded a penalty for hands. Kane scored his 54th international goal from the penalty spot, making Tottenham Hotspur’s goal getter the only record holder. The man he is replacing, Wayne Rooney, was quick to offer his congratulations. Jack Grealish could have made things worse for Italy, but missed a dot of a chance in first half stoppage time.
After the break, debutant Retegui’s hour struck. His national coach Roberto Mancini had already compared him to Gabriel Batistuta, and soon in the second half he scored the tying goal for the hosts. That did not lead to an Italian storm, but a second yellow card for Luke Shaw gave the Squadra Azzurra a chance against ten men in the final phase. Italy knocked on the gate, but didn’t have the strength to break it open. Mancini’s team therefore has to chase in Group C.
Ronaldo knows no stopping and has yet another world record
Harry Kane’s record was not the only one created last night. Cristiano Ronaldo played his 197th international match on Thursday evening. The captain of Portugal was given a starting place by the new national coach Roberto Martínez for the European Championship qualifying match with Liechtenstein, and that is already a match with eternal value.
With 197 international matches, the Al-Nassr star player is now the world record holder. When it comes to the number of appearances for a national team. Bader Al-Mutawa has been dethroned in this one, the attacker from Kuwait has 196 games. Al-Mutawa, 38, has not hung up his football boots yet, so Ronaldo cannot sit back and relax.
