Spalletti: ‘Italy could’ve scored many more goals’

Luciano Spalletti feels that Italy ‘could’ve scored a lot more goals’ in the 4-1 victory over Israel and warns Nations League qualification is not a certainty yet.

The Azzurri made relatively easy work of the fixture at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, as Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored twice, with Mateo Retegui converting a penalty and Davide Frattesi confirming his status as Spalletti’s top scorer.

“I think we had fits and starts, but didn’t finish the chances that we created that were pretty clear. It’s not easy to get one-on-one with the opponents that often, especially when they defend that deep,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.

Daniel Maldini and fellow substitute Destiny Udogie combined to set up the last goal, while Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca also made his senior international debut.

“Those who came on did well, we could’ve scored a lot more goals, but that’s fine. There were some errors to create a couple of problems, but we otherwise did well with preventative marking and ran few risks,” added the coach.

Spalletti not concerned by Italy defending

Italy now have three wins and a draw in the Nations League, but have conceded a goal in their last seven consecutive matches. Is this something to worry about?

“We know that you would love to win games 10-0, but there are opponents too and we have to deal with them too,” shrugged Spalletti.

France won 2-1 away to Belgium, even after Aurelien Tchaoumeni was sent off and Youri Tielemans missed a penalty.

That means Italy stay top with 10 points, followed by France on 9, Belgium 4 and Israel 0, practically qualifying them for the quarter-finals as one of the top two.

“There are two very tough games coming up. If Belgium win both their games, they’re right up there, so we need to get a result.”