Yahoo Sports Capello issues Italy warning after Albania victory
Despite Italy’s 2-1 victory over Albania in their EURO 2024 opener on Saturday evening, Fabio Capello believes that Luciano Spalletti and his team still have even bigger tests waiting ahead of them, as Spain and Croatia loom in the next group stage matches.
In almost disastrous fashion, Italy fell 1-0 behind to Albania after Nedim Bajrami latched onto Federico Dimarco’s loose throw-in just over 20 seconds in. Comeback goals from Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella ensured Italy returned to base with three points to kick the tournament off.
Though many have praised the team’s resilience and positivity after the early set-back, Capello believes that the Azzurri could still be punished further by more experienced international sides.
Capello concern about Italy defenders
Working as a pundit alongside Alessandro Del Piero on Sky Sport on Saturday evening, Capello had a warning for Spalletti’s side ahead of their meetings against Spain and Croatia.
“When we have opponents of a different calibre to Albania in front of us, we’ll see how we get on,” the former Milan, Roma and Juventus coach said, reported via Tuttosport.
“It depends on whether we have speed, I haven’t seen if our defenders are quick yet.”
Italy, and the speed of their defenders, will be tested against Spain in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday night, before playing Croatia in Leipzig for the final group stage match next Monday, also at 20.00 BST.
