Eight Napoli players were in action on Tuesday: André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Jens Cajuste, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Leo Østigärd, Mathias Olivera, Giacomo Raspadori and Amir Rrahmani.
Crucial Victory
Giacomo Raspadori played 72 minutes in Italy’s 2-1 victory over Ukraine in UEFA Euro 2024 Group C Qualifying. The Napoli forward started over oft-criticized Azzurri striker Ciro Immobile, but didn’t fare much better. Raspadori, who said after the match that he feels most comfortable playing as a No. 9, failed to convert numerous scoring opportunities.
In the 10th minute, his teammate at Napoli, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, picked him out with a heavy cross in the area. The ex-Sassuolo man got everything right but the finish. He controlled the ball at the top of the box and outmuscled the Ukraine defenders before blasting the ball over the bar from close range.
In the 26th minute, Federico Dimarco floated a cross to another ex-Sassuolo player at the second post. Davide Frattesi, who scored both of Italy’s goals, head the ball back to Raspadori at the penalty spot. However, his former teammate was unable to get over the ball on the bounce and skied the volley over the bar.
The pair linked up again five minutes before the break. Frattesi poked the ball forward to Raspadori, who once again did well to create the shot. The Napoli man bounced off of the nearby Ukraine defenders before firing a low shot on target, but Georgiy Bushchan was well-positioned to make the save.
Raspadori’s best chance came just before the hour mark, when Bushchan cleared the ball straight to Nicolò Zaniolo. The Galatasaray forward held up play, picking out Raspadori’s run into the area with a clever backheel pass. The Italy false nine struck the ball really well, but Bushchan made his best save of the night, maintaining the 2-1 deficit.
Though he didn’t take his chances, Raspadori’s movement created problems for Ukraine’s defense, and Italy’s attack was undeniably stronger with Raspadori playing than with Immobile. In the 72nd minute, Raspadori was replaced Matteo Retegui, whose Genoa side will square off against Napoli in their first match back from the international break.
Meanwhile, Giovanni Di Lorenzo played the full 90 minutes at right back. As usual, the Napoli captain was a workhorse, tracking up and down the right wing throughout the match. Di Lorenzo also spoiled a scoring opportunity very early in the match. In the third minute, Ukraine’s poor clearance fell to Napoli fullback at the edge of the area. He struck the ball first-time, but it sliced high and wide of the mark.
Di Lorenzo was also partially at fault on Ukraine’s only goal. In truth, the entire defense was out of sorts on the goal. Di Lorenzo’s mark, Artem Dovbyk, got goal-side of Di Lorenzo, who might have been expecting his teammates to push up. Instead, they played the Ukraine striker onside and he was gifted a free shot from close range. Napoletano goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was jeered throughout the match by the Milan fans in attendance at the San Siro, made a fantastic save to momentarily protect the clean sheet. However, Dimarco cleared the ball straight to Andrij Yarmolenko and the veteran winger tapped the ball into the empty goal.
Nevertheless, Di Lorenzo was solid as ever at the back and dangerous as ever in attack, demonstrating yet again that he is one of the best full backs on the planet.
The 2-1 victory was Luciano Spalletti’s first win at the helm of the Italian national team, and an important win it was. Italy moved up to second in the group, tied with Ukraine and North Macedonia on 7 points, 6 points behind group leaders England. However, Italy has a game in hand (against bottom of the table Malta) on all three nations.
Friendly Battle
Two Napoli players squared off in Norway’s narrow 2-1 victory over Georgia in UEFA Euro 2024 Group A Qualifying. Both players stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes as Leo Østigård got the better of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
With Kvaratskhelia cutting in from the left side, the two players occasionally ran into each other in the centre of the park. In the 10th minute, Østigård made a strong but fair tackle on his Napoli teammate after the Georgian made a lovely turn just outside the area.
Three minutes later, Zurab Davitashvili’s cross reached Kvaratskhelia at the second post, past an outstretched Kristoffer Ajer. Kvara cut to his right and let fly, but Stefan Strandberg blocked the shot. The ball appeared to come off Strandberg’s hand, but it was firmly planted on the ground without making the defender unnaturally bigger. Thus, the penalty kick was not awarded.
Kvaratskhelia was back at it in the 27th minute, shortly after Erling Halaand opened the scoring for Norway. After collecting the ball at midfield, the Napoli left winger glided past Patrick Berg, carried the ball into the area, dribbled past Strandberg and went for goal. However, familiar with Kvaratskhelia’s game, Østigård slid to block the shot.
Unfortunately for the Georgians, Kvaratskhelia was their only attacking threat in the first half. Led by youngster Antonio Nusa and Arsenal midfielder Martin Ødegaard, Norway dominated the play and took a 2-0 lead into the break, with Østigård spending a fair bit of time in the opposition half.
Georgia looked much better in the second half. Kvaratskhelia had one of his best chances of the match in the 75th minute, but with the ball bouncing, he fired a left-footed shot over the bar. It looked like Norway would coast to victory, but Georgia made it interesting when substitute Budu Zivzivazde beat both Strandberg and Østigård to score a lovely goal.
The goal gave Georgia a sliver of hope and they nearly capitalized in the dying seconds of the match. Kvaratskhelia played a give-and-go with Georges Mikautadze before weaving into the area and thumping a left-footed shot on target. However, Orjan Nyland made his best save of the match to protect the 2-1 lead and earn the victory for Norway.
With the result, Neither Georgia nor Norway are likely to qualify for the final tournament.
Time to Play
Eljif Elmas played the full 90 minutes in North Macedonia’s 0-2 victory over Malta in UEFA Euro Group C Qualifying. Lined up as a second striker in Blagoja Milevskis 3-4-1-2 formation, Elmas opened the scoring only five minutes into the match. Ennis Bardhi, who scored the equalizer against Italy, played a short square pass to Elmas in the area. The versatile Napoli player allowed the ball to roll past himself, opening up his body before thumping it into the top corner at the far post.
Elmas’ third goal of the Qualifying round was the first of two North Macedonia goals in the first half, though the half-time score-line did not reflect the quality of Malta’s play. Elmas was nonetheless a constant threat in attack. In the first minute of stoppage time, the forward made a surging run forward before drawing a foul in a dangerous area. Bardhi cleverly shot below the Malta wall, but Henry Bonello made an excellent save, despite seeing the shot late.
Elmas nearly added an assist midway through the second half. The Napoli man played a clever back-heel pass to Ezgjan Alioski, whose left-footed strike beat the keeper but not the upright.
With the win, combined with Ukraine’s defeat to Italy, North Macedonia moved to second in the Group C table, level with Ukraine and Italy on seven points.
On the to the Final
André-Frank Zambo Anguissa played the full 90 minutes in Cameroon’s 3-0 victory over Burundi in AFCON Group C Qualifying. The final score-line was not an accurate reflection of the competitiveness of the match. Had it not been for five quality saves from former Inter goalkeeper André Onana, Cameroon could have easily gone into the break trailing by two or three goals. While Anguissa was a force to be reckoned with in the Cameroon midfield, the other midfielders left gaping holes for Burundi to exploit.
However, Burundi’s momentum was halted less than a minute into the second half, when Christophe Nduwarugira under-hit his back pass intended for goalkeeper Onésime Rukundo. Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo pounced on the loose ball and fired past Rukundo from close range.
Needing a win to advance, Burundi pushed forward for the equalizer and exposed themselves at the back. Christopher Wooh sealed the victory for Cameroon, who advanced to the AFCON finals, scoring his first goal for his country from a corner kick.
Walking the Park
Jens Cajuste played 73 minutes in Sweden’s 1-3 defeat to Austria. Sweden had numerous opportunities to score in the first half, including in the 7th minute, when Cajuste won the ball in the middle of the park. The Napoli midfielder thought about shooting before wisely passing to Emil Forsberg on the left wing. The winger paused before picking out Alexander Isak in the area, but the Newcastle forward couldn’t beat Alexander Schlager with his header.
Like the player he was signed to back up, Cajuste contributed on both ends of the pitch. In the 27th minute, he tracked back and made a perfectly timed slide tackle on Michael Gregoritsch to break up the Austria counterattack.
However, the young midfielder has plenty of room for improvement. He was often stationary when Sweden were in possession, walking the park rather than moving into space to show for the ball. In the 68th minute, Philip Mwene dribbled around Cajuste before drawing a foul on Isak Hien in the Sweden box. Inter striker Marko Arnautovic converted the penalty kick to give Austria a two-goal lead.
Cajuste was replaced by Viktor Claesson six minutes later. With the defeat, Sweden have put themselves in a very difficult position to qualify from the Euro finals.
Tumultuous Capitano
Amir Rrahmani played the full 90 minutes in Kosovo’s 2-0 defeat to Romania in UEFA Euro Group I Qualifying. Wearing the captain’s armband, Rrahmani was at the centre of what turned out to be a tumultuous match for the visitors. After only 18 minutes, French official Willy Delajod was forced to suspend the match due to discriminatory chants from a set of Romania fans. After an extended break, during which time the players returned to the locker rooms, play eventually resumed, and the match was very tense thereafter.
In the 32nd minute, Rrahmani held his ground, shielding the ball out for a goal kick. Surprisingly, the Napoli centre back was furious after the ball went out of play, shoving any Romania player in sight. The replay showed that, after conceding the goal kick, Romania forward Florinal Coman intentionally struck Rrahmani in the head with his forearm and at minimum should have been cautioned, if not dismissed.
Shortly before the hour mark, with Kosovo already playing a man down after Vedat Muriqi was cautioned twice in the first half, Coman got the better of Rrahmani again. The Romania winger got behind Rrahmani, who clutched Coman long enough for the player to go to ground and earn a penalty kick. Fortunately for Rrahmani, Kosovo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric made an excellent save on Nicolae Stanciu to protect the clean sheet.
Despite their best efforts, Kosovo were not able to keep the home side off the score sheet, conceding the opening goal in the 83rd minute. Minutes later, Rrahmani was again unfortunate to not get the decision of the official. On a Kosove corner kick, the Napoli man was clearly barged into by Genoa defender Radu Dragusin, but the penalty was not given.
With the defeat, Kosovo’s narrow hopes of qualifying for the Euro finals were extinguished.
Rough Outing
Mathias Oliver played 30 minutes in Uruguay’s 2-1 defeat to Ecuador in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying, and it couldn’t have gone any worse. The Napoli full back came off the bench at the hour mark to replace Joaquín Piquerez. A minute later, he was unable to clear the cross of Kendry Páez, allowing Félix Torres to tap in the match winner. Three minutes after the goal, Olivera was shown a yellow card.
