Italy take on the visitors Bosnia & Herzegovina in a Friendly International match. The match will be played on Sunday, June 9th at Stadio Carlo Castellani (Empoli).
Italy, the current holders of the European Championship title, enter this tournament with many questions hanging over their heads. At Euro 2020, it was no coincidence that Donnarumma was named the best player – he won penalty shootouts in both the semi-final and the final against England. However, there wasn’t much time for celebration. Shortly after, in the fall, Italy lost the race for first place in the qualifiers to Switzerland, and in the spring of the previous year, they suffered a humiliating home defeat to North Macedonia. Despite this, Mancini remained at the helm until almost a year ago, when he left for a lucrative contract in Saudi Arabia. His successor, Spalletti, faced the task of compensating for a defeat against England – which didn’t go well, as Italy lost again. They also only managed draws against North Macedonia and Ukraine, finishing above the latter only on goal difference. However, the key point is that they finished second, securing a direct ticket to the Euro. In March, they prepared for the tournament in a rather unusual way: traveling to America to beat Venezuela and Ecuador. More recently, they ended a friendly against Turkey with a 0-0 draw.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Golden Lilies, could boast of many appearances in major tournaments. In reality, though, they have only played in one World Cup. They have repeatedly failed in playoff matches, raising curiosity about why they didn’t seem to strive harder in the traditional qualifying format during the last cycle, despite being in a relatively easy group. Ultimately, it all ended with a match against Ukraine in March. Milosevic’s side opened the scoring, albeit with a bit of luck from a Matviyenko own goal. However, they couldn’t hold on and, after conceding an equalizer in the 85th minute, quickly allowed the blue and yellows to secure a 2-1 comeback win. This started a new cycle under the guidance of Sergej Barbarez, one of the best strikers in the country's history. His debut wasn’t auspicious, suffering a heavy 0-3 defeat to England in Newcastle.
All four previous matches took place over a short period from 2019 to 2020. Italy, the Azzurri, won three of these encounters, but Džeko and his teammates managed to hold them to a draw in one away match. Italy, the Azzurri, cannot afford a second slip-up in a row before heading to the Euros. We predict that Luciano Spalletti's side will secure a win with a handicap of -1.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Italy to win with -1.5 handicap.
