At the press conference before the Italy - Switzerland match, coach Luciano Spalletti shared a list of 5 Italian players ready to take responsibility if needed in a penalty shootout.
Coach Murat Yakin has stated that Switzerland's priority is to win in regulation time against defending champions Italy. On the other hand, coach Luciano Spalletti has declared that he is ready for the penalty shootout scenario and has not hesitated to share the list of Italian players who will take on this difficult task.
.jpeg "Shocked by the list of 5 Italian players who took 11m penalty against Switzerland 1")
Specifically, coach Spalletti confirmed that the “selected group of players” includes Scamacca, Retegui, Dimarco, Barella and Jorginho. With this arrangement, it seems that Jorginho will be the one to “lock the score” in the 5th round of kicks.
The two "unskilled" strikers Scamacca - Retegui (from right) will take on the responsibility of taking the 11m penalty shootout against Switzerland.
Worth mentioning, the above list seems really... horrifying to tifosi because Scamacca and Retegui are two strikers. is causing great disappointment at this year's Euro when he played a total of nearly 250 minutes but only... had one shot on target.
In his career, Scamacca scored an impressive 11m with 6 successful kicks. But the last time the striker won the Europa League this season with Atalana was... nearly 2 years ago.
Midfielder Barella has not even taken a penalty kick for nearly 5 years, although before that his success rate from the penalty spot was 5 shots and 4 goals. Not far behind, full-back Dimarco, who has a "very good" left foot, has also not taken a penalty kick for nearly 4 years and the last time he took that kick, he... missed.
Jorginho, the midfielder famous for his skipping penalty kicks, is often chosen for both his club and national team. However, Jorginho was the one who missed the last kick in the Euro 2020 final against England 3 years ago. At that time, thanks to the brilliance of goalkeeper Donnarumma, Italy was able to win the championship.
Not only that, it was also Jorginho who missed the main penalty kick in the match against Switzerland 2 years ago, causing Italy to only draw 1-1 and lose their ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In addition to the five names mentioned above, the two faces chosen as reserve penalty kickers are Pellegrini and Zaccagni. Roma's captain midfielder, Pellegrini, has good technical qualities and finishing skills, and seems to be a viable option, although he has missed five penalties out of 18 attempts in his career.
Mattia Zaccagni, the hero with the perfect curling shot in the 90+7 minute of the match against Croatia that brought Italy into the round of 16, also has a playing style similar to Pellegrini. Zaccani's penalty kick record is more impressive with a 100% success rate from his previous 4 attempts.
In the end, it is clear that statistics on penalty kick rates in the past are only for reference. Only the players who are responsible – or forced to step up to the white spot in the 16m50 box after 120 minutes of play – can understand the terrible pressure because the line between hero and villain is only a hair’s breadth. If I have to say it correctly, perhaps no one wants to take a penalty kick…!