Turkey clearly loses the start of the European Championship: Italy celebrates thanks to an own goal and goalkeeping mistake


Turkey clearly loses the start of the European Championship
Italy celebrates thanks to its own goal and goalkeeping mistake

In the end it becomes clear: In the EM opening game, a leading Italy beats Turkey in Rome. For a long time, the Squadra Azzurra cannot get through against a compact defensive. In the second half, an unfortunate own goal helps – and then a blatant goalkeeper mistake.

Notte magica in Rome: One of the favorites Italy started the EM with a historic victory against Turkey on a glittering summer night. In front of 16,000 enthusiastic Tifosi in the Olympic Stadium, the four-time world champion deservedly won the opening game 3-0 (0-0) and raised hopes for the first European title since 1968.

An own goal by Merih Demiral (53rd), ex-Dortmund’s Ciro Immobile (66th) and Lorenzo Insigne (79th) ensured the clear victory. In the 39th European Championship game, Italy scored more than two goals for the first time against completely overwhelmed Turks. In addition, the Azzurri continued their monster series with the impressive performance: the team of coach Roberto Mancini has been undefeated in 28 games since September 2018, and has now won the ninth straight win without conceding a goal. Italy had sensationally missed the 2018 World Cup.

“We’re going to the start to get the European title that we’ve been missing since 1968”, Mancini said before kick-off and dreamed of “magical nights”. After the short but atmospheric opening ceremony, his team immediately took over the command. The hosts let the ball circulate through their ranks almost undisturbed, but couldn’t get through against the two massive back four of the Turks lurking on the counterattack.

The fans in the stands didn’t care: a quarter of the seats were allowed to be occupied, at times the atmosphere was like in a full stadium. Some Turkish supporters also made it to Rome and celebrated a peaceful festival with the Italians. “It was right to postpone the European Championship for a year because it is a festival of football,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin before the game.

Clear superiority, lucky goals

On the lawn, Italy clearly set the tone. The defensively strong Turks, who only conceded three goals in qualifying, turned out to be a tough nut to crack. It became particularly dangerous after the balls were at rest. With the best chance of the first half, captain Giorgio Chiellini forced the Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to a brilliant save in his 108th international match after a corner (22nd minute).

The 36-year-old Chiellini formed the “old men defense” alongside Leonardo Bonucci (34), who had everything under control against the youngest team at the European Championship. Italy looked sovereign and serene, the Turks lost too many balls. Forward Burak Yilmaz hung in the air, Kenan Karaman from Düsseldorf was overwhelmed several times.

A header from Immobile (33rd) caused some danger again. In addition, the Italians were unlucky when a handball by Mehmet Celik was not punished with a penalty (45th). At the break, the shooting statistics with 13-0 for Italy spoke a clear language.

After the break, an own goal broke the spell. Domenico Berardi was allowed to cross sharply on the five, Demiral could hardly defend himself against the own goal from a few meters. A bit of luck was also involved in the second goal because Cakir couldn’t hold onto a deflected shot. Immobile was spot on and dusted off. Insigne made it all clear after goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir made a blatant playing error.

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