Italy overcome North Macedonia, eye Euro 2024 spot in Ukraine showdown
Federico Chiesa scored twice as Italy secured a 5-2 home victory against North Macedonia in their Euro 2024 qualifying clash on Friday, giving them an edge ahead of a deciding encounter with Ukraine on Monday for a place at the finals.
The Group C victory means Italy only need a draw against Ukraine to secure second place in the group along with already-qualified England and reach next year’s finals in Germany.
Italy have encountered difficulties in their history with North Macedonia, suffering a 1-0 loss at home in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and later playing a 1-1 Euro qualifying draw in manager Luciano Spalletti's debut as Azzurri coach in September.
"With our quality, sooner or later we do score goals, but there was this danger of counter-attacks that we were never troubled by in the first half but were a couple of times after the break," Spalletti told RAI Sport.
The Azzurri will qualify if they avoid defeat by Ukraine next time out
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