ALBANIA – ITALY | Wednesday, 20:45
If it were up to him, perhaps Roberto Mancini would never have wanted this friendly to be played. He would have gone elsewhere, away from the dazzling spotlight of the football world. Instead, his Italy will be forced to take the field to face Edi Reja’s Albania in an international friendly that has a bit of the flavour of a hoax. While the other main selections are excited about their debut at the imminent World Cup, the Azzurri remain on their toes, well aware that this – as the coach himself had repeatedly reiterated – is the worst period since the resounding elimination, the second consecutive, which took place in the Uefa play-offs last March against North Macedonia.
The glow of the Nations League is far away at the moment. In September, qualification for the Dutch Final Four, winning a group with England and Germany, had tried to soothe the wounds. But Mancini was aware that in November, in conjunction with the preparations for Qatar 2022, they would be reopened. Italy, which in any case has already started a deep renewal, will challenge Albania and Austria in the coming days, two other selections that missed out on world qualification. The coach will therefore take the opportunity to understand who he will have to bet on in 2023, when the qualification for Euro 2024 and the Nations League Final Four will begin.
He has called up several youngsters – from Scalvini to Fagioli, passing through Parisi, Miretti and the 2006 class Pafundi – and will probably make several experiments. The Azzurri come from two wins in a row, against England and Hungary, in which they did not concede a single goal. Albania, full of players who play in our league (Hysaj, Bajrami, Kumbulla, Ismajli, Djimsiti, Asllani), are coming off an underwhelming 2022 in which they have not conceded a single goal: the last one was against Armenia a year ago.
Edi Reja
The Prediction
Italy, as said, will take the field in Tirana with an experimental formation and Mancini will try to give space to all the new players during the match. It will probably be 3-4-3, with a light attacking trident formed by Zaniolo, Raspadori and Grifo. Albania will limit themselves to containing the Azzurri, although the results of the last two friendlies played between October and November against Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not comforting, especially from an offensive point of view (1-1 and 0-1). A victory for Italy is likely in a match in which both should score.
Albania v Italy line-up probables
- ALBANIA (3-5-2): Berisha; Ismajli, Kumbulla, Mihaj; Hysaj, Abrashi, Bare, Bajrami, Lenjani; Uzuni, Broja.
- ITALIA (3-4-3): Donnarumma; Scalvini, Bonucci, Bastoni; Di Lorenzo, Verratti, Tonali, Dimarco; Zaniolo, Raspadori, Grifo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
