Italy down Netherlands to win bronze in Nations League play-off
After Italy boss Roberto Mancini claimed his side were “lacking great forwards” in the wake of their semi-final defeat against Spain, it seemed his squad took that personally.
Stepping up where his forward-thinking teammates were lacking, Federico Dimarco quickly proved that you don’t need to be a great forward to score goals, as he unleashed an absolute rocket after just six minutes to fire Italy ahead and leave his manager stunned.
The Netherlands could barely take stock of what had hit them before Italy doubled their advantage midway through the first half. There was certainly an element of luck to this one though, as Wilfried Gnonto’s deflected effort fell favourably to Davide Frattesi, who made no mistake in slotting beneath Justin Bijlow.
Now needing a miracle to win, the Netherlands were left kicking themselves before the break, when Cody Gakpo spurned a glorious opportunity to halve the arrears, lifting his effort wide over the onrushing Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Whatever was said in the Dutch dressing room at HT clearly worked, and Denzel Dumfries was one of many Dutchmen to try his luck early in the second half. However, his stinging drive from distance was repelled by Donnarumma, as the Italians’ famously resilient defence initially stood firm.
But Steven Bergwijn thought he’d set up a grandstand finish just after the hour mark, when he fired home to the delight of the Dutch faithful inside FC Twente’s home ground.
That optimism was soon extinguished however, as an equaliser-chasing Netherlands were caught cold on the counter when Federico Chiesa broke from deep, before rifling home Italy’s third to break Dutch hearts.
There was further despair to follow for Ronald Koeman’s side, who thought they’d again fired themselves back into contention when Wout Weghorst fired home. When VAR confirmed he’d strayed offside, the Dutch were essentially forced to accept their fate.
While far from the prize they wanted in the third-ever edition of UEFA’s newest international competition, Italy will be content to leave with bronze in the bag after being absent from successive World Cup finals.
It was another frustrating afternoon for the Dutch though, despite them salvaging a modicum of pride in stoppage time, when Georginio Wijnaldum claimed a consolation to take the edge off their disappointment at getting the final-stage wooden spoon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Davide Frattesi (Italy)
