By Batou Saidy
Barely few months after the Euro 2020 was done and dusted, the UEFA Nations League resumes in style. The first semifinal match that will feature Italy and Spain will be underway tonight at San Siro, a famous stadium in Milan, Italy. This tie will reignite the footballing rivalry between the Azzurri and the La Roja.
Italy are the European champions after their heroics at the Euro 2020 finals. This was their maiden success at a European championship. They have won the Wembley final and taken the trophy to Rome. The Three Lions were disappointed that it didn’t go home.
Spain have also gone far in the tournament, all the way to the semis, only to eventually lose to vintage Italy in the shootouts. Many people might not expect them to go that far after their gaffer, Luis Enrique called their squad ahead of the tournament, omitting notable names. But they’ve went on to refute those thoughts of underperformance and expectations of early exit.
The second semifinal clash will be Belgium versus France at the Allianz Stadium on Thursday, with the final to feature victors from either clash at San Siro on Sunday. The Red Devils suffered a shocking exit at the hands of the Azzurri, thanks to goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Nicolo Barella. Romelu Lukaku pulled one back from the penalty spot, but that wasn’t enough to salvage them from shocking exit.
For France, it was a disappointing tournament. Their early exit from the hands of Switzerland was not what many expected. But their problems were also apparent: from the overconfidence of their coach to the premium selfishness of some of their players, and even internal conflict within the squad. That made it so early for France. Les Bleus.
Running a quick analysis on this tournament, here are few points to take home:
Home advantage for Italy
The Azzurri will be locking horns with Spain today in Milan. That is a great home advantage for them to capitalize on. Putting icing on the cake, Italy are still on their unbeaten streak, a 37-match unbeaten run that stretches as far back as 2018.
It’s now or never for Belgium’s golden generation
Belgium are number one in world football ranking. They have a golden generation of players but it’s largely insane how they haven’t managed to win any honor so far. Now that the squad is running out of muscle – with Hazard, De Bruyne, Mertens, Lukaku, Vertonghen and Witsel all aging; for them to win an honor, it’s now or never. If they throw this one away, 2022 World Cup could be their only chance for glory.
France to avoid complacency
Les Bleus have a lot of problems to fix. Internal conflict. Mbappe’s ego. Overconfidence.
Amongst many other things of relevance. They can’t afford to rubbish their superiority and deny themselves of titles they can easily win en masse. However, when they play Belgium on Thursday, the Red Devils may seek to revenge. That will make the match quite interesting. And which ever side is to win this tournament has to play really hard.
