Luciano Spalletti hails Italy’s ‘extraordinary spirit’ after win over Belgium

Italy boss Luciano Spalletti has hailed his team’s spirit after they picked up a 1-0 win over Belgium yesterday in the UEFA Nations League.

The Azzurri have now progressed to the quarter-finals of the Nations League and have done that with a game to spare. A Sandro Tonali goal in the first half proved enough for all three points, remaining unbeaten in the entire competition and they are all but guaranteed to finish first in their group as well.

Spalletti seem rather pleased about the win and after the game, he spoke at the press conference. He stated that the side played well in the first half and did well to defend the lead in the second 45.

He said: “The team showed an exceptional spirit: in the first half they won the match and in the second they defended themselves with great order and spirit, this second side also becomes important to see with the determination to want to fight for every ball.”

He also stated that the side followed up the previous performances with another important show.

“We followed up on all the good things we had seen in previous matches because this was a really difficult match due to the standings, the pitch and the strength of the opponent, instead we managed it as we had to manage it in the first half. In the second half we had to defend a bit, but when we got the ball back we went over there to try to score.”

On the way, Italy have also beaten France and Israel but their next game sees them take on Les Bleus in a game where Spalletti could rotate his squad.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN