Thanks to a last-minute goal from Zaccagni, Italy drew 1-1 with Croatia in the final group stage match of this European Championship, narrowly qualifying and avoiding the embarrassment of the defending champion being eliminated in the group stage. In the round of 16, Italy will face Switzerland, who remained undefeated in the group stage. According to Italian media reports, Spalletti has prepared multiple plans for the upcoming round of 16, including a potential penalty shootout.
Regarding the knockout match against Switzerland, Italy coach Spalletti said: “We have many players who know how to help the team overcome the opponent, but we still need to prepare backup plans, including a potential penalty shootout.” For a possible penalty shootout, Spalletti specifically mentioned several players, including Retegui, Scamacca, Barella, and Dimarco.
Meanwhile, according to Italian media analysis, the current Italian team is actually lacking a stable penalty taker. Calafiori has performed exceptionally well, being the team’s most prolific player in creating chances, intercepting, and winning aerial duels, and assisting Zaccagni’s equalizer in the 1-1 draw against Croatia. Unfortunately, Calafiori has accumulated two yellow cards and will miss the match against Switzerland. During his time at Verona, Napoli, and Chelsea, Jorginho was the team’s primary penalty taker. However, after transferring to Arsenal, Jorginho’s playing time has been inconsistent, and he is no longer the first penalty taker. More importantly, Jorginho has recently missed several penalties for Italy, including two consecutive misses against Switzerland in the previous World Cup qualifiers, indirectly leading to Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
As for Scamacca and Dimarco mentioned by Spalletti, neither of them are the first penalty takers for their respective clubs. In Atalanta, Koopmeiners takes penalties ahead of others, while in Inter, Çalhanoğlu is the first penalty taker. Retegui took many penalties during his time at Tigre, scoring 12 out of 13, boasting a high success rate. In addition to Retegui, Pellegrini, Chiesa, and Casani could also be penalty takers. The former has converted several penalties when Dybala was absent, Chiesa has recently scored a few penalties, and Casani has also successfully converted penalties at club level.
Of course, what the coach says before the game doesn’t necessarily translate into reality, otherwise the opponent would surely be prepared. Therefore, if a penalty shootout occurs, how Spalletti will handle it remains to be seen.
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