Italy coach Luciano Spalletti was delighted after their 5-2 Euro qualifying win against North Macedonia.
While Jorginho missed a penalty, Italy had a 3-0 lead thanks to Matteo Darmian aand a Fede Chiesa double before North Macedonia struck twice to bring the score to 3-2. But Italy settled the game late thanks to Stephan El Shaawary and Giacomo Raspadori.
“We had a great first half and that was the game we had to make. With our quality, sooner or later we do score goals, but there was this danger of counter-attacks, that we were never troubled by in the first half, but were a couple of times after the break,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.
“There is this moment in history for Italy where a single mistake can start to make things tumble. We had said to avoid corners and set plays because they are taller than us, they scored the first corner they had. The second goal was a big deflection, it was casual, so that changes the psychological aspects of the match.
“At that point, I think we saw the best of Italy in terms of character and quality, as we showed strength to keep going and secure the victory with another two goals.”
On Chiesa, he added: “Chiesa has these moments where he turns on the turbo. When he takes men on, it is not just with technique, but also strength and pace. We thank him for his contribution this evening.”
