Euro 2024: Are you even trying, Italy?

Italy - Croatia 1-1

Spain - Albania 1-0

It's got wings because it's flying away from them

I hadn't seen Simon in a long time, and it was very kind of him to invite me to his place to watch the Italy game together.

I was always gonna watch it, it was the more interesting game, but what a privilege to watch it alongside 6 Italians! I'm not a big fan of English supporters, I think on the continent we carry an idealized version of the hooligans of the 70s and 80s in our heads, but there's something about this country that knows how to make a good experience unpleasant and never knows how to manage excess.

So the opportunity of being around other supporters without having a stake in the game is great, even better when they're Italians.

And, like the game, they were hopeful for the most part, despairing after the Croatian goal, going through the negotiations of whether qualifying with 3 points is possible, and then finishing on the ecstasy of the equalizing goal in the 97th minute.

But the truth is, Italy was poor and ultimately, maybe undeserving. Croatia had two very poor games to begin with, and it didn't feel like their level improved massively for this last-gasp chance of qualification. But Italy's level did drop. They seem uninterested in much else rather than running down the clock, dominating the game and dominating possession, but without asking too many questions in regards to a goal.

The penalty added the spice and drama that this game needed. Harsh, but perfectly justified, the ball did hit the hand of the Italian defender, though he might not have had a say in it. For the penalty itself, it's hard to say whether it was Modric's poor execution or Donnarumma's brilliance that kept the scoresheet clean. But it does say something about Modric's mentality to keep his head down, run around like a maniac, and score from open play 2 minutes later. Probably something about Italy's mentality too, bit too lax to cover themselves properly and not as good at defending as the great Italian teams of the past.

Even the push in injury time, it did seem somewhat rushed, but the goal didn't feel like it was necessarily coming. It was the work of fate and fortune rather than Spaletti or Chiesa. But it was worth to see the joy on my companion's faces, now qualified and facing a relatively accessible game against Switzerland in the last 16.

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A word about Spain - Albania? Hardly deserving of one, everyone expected Spain to win, I hope at least the people in the stadium enjoyed a nice atmosphere.