The first teams have been able to fix their ticket for the upcoming European Football Championship during this international break. In Group J, the Italian team secured the start right with a less spectacular 2-0 home victory against Greece. More spectacle may now be expected on Tuesday evening at the next appearance of the “Squadra Azzurra”. In Vaduz there is a duel between David and Goliath – Liechtenstein welcomes Italy!
Among the home side will be some players in the squad who can not devote full time to the round leather. However, the blatant underdog surprised at the last international matches and reached a draw twice in a row. A point win against the sovereign leaders is, however, pure utopia.
In this duel, the only question is how high Italy will win the eighth qualifier. On the three-way market, no usable quotas are offered. The start of the game in the Rheinpark Stadion is on Tuesday at 19:45.
Liechtenstein:
The Underdog from the Principality started – unsurprisingly – with a defeat series in the European Championship qualifiers. The team of head coach Helgi Kolvidsson lost the first five games and could not even celebrate a goal. But in the last two internationals celebrated the national team from the almost 35,000 inhabitants land equal to two times a point win.
In September, Liechtenstein fought abroad in Greece for a more than impressive 1-1 draw. Last Saturday, the Kolvidsson-Elf took the second point win in the home game against Armenia. Joker Yanik Frick (son of Liechtenstein legend Mario Frick) scored only seconds after his substitution.
Pure effectiveness, because this was actually the only conclusion to the gate of the Armenians. This was Liechtenstein’s second win in a row against Armenia at home. Already in the Nations League, the Underdog fought a 2-2 draw against the Eastern Europeans.
However, the points win must still be classified in the category “happy”, because the score was much better, but in the conclusion too playful. Against Italy you can not rely on the inefficiency of the guests. Normally, only the question of the amount of defeat arises. Already a goal could be booked as a success.
The home game against Italy represents for many national players again an absolute career highlight. Many players of the Liechtenstein national team are in low leagues under contract. Hardly anyone plays in a first league, in some cases even semi-professionals / amateurs are in the starting lineup.
Italy :
The shame of the missed 2018 World Cup in Russia is forgotten – as a second team managed the Italian selection, the early qualification for the European Championship finals next year. Under “Roberto Mancini” “Bella Italia” returned to the road of success. In 15 international matches under his wing, there were ten wins for Italy, three draws and only two defeats.
In the current qualification, Italy was no nakedness and has been able to make all seven games victorious. With a maximum score of 21 points, Italy are currently nine points clear of Finland and eleven on Armenia and Bosnia.
The group victory is de facto fixed and will be fixed on Tuesday evening in Vaduz also mathematically.
On Saturday, the Azzurri celebrated a 2-0 home win against once again disappointing Greece. More than about the performance of the Italians was talked about the outfit. For the first time, the Mancini protégés played in an unfamiliar green jersey. The green jersey is intended to indicate the Italian Renaissance and the young age of the Squadra Azzurra.
In fact, a rethinking took place in Italy and Mancini gives many youngsters a chance. Captain Leonardo Bonucci is one of the last “veterans” in the squad. Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Zaniolo, Gianluigi Donnarruma or Federico Chiesa are to shape the future.
The latter will not be available due to injury, Federico Bernardeschi replaced him already against Greece and scored a goal.
