When Italy plays Malta, Roberto Mancini will be under pressure to put the team's defeat to England behind them.
Italy manager Roberto Mancini will be hoping to escape additional humiliation when his team squares off against Malta after losing the opening match of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.
While Italy was unable to make the 2018 World Cup, Mancini has done a respectable job of leading the Azzurri to victory at the UEFA Euro 2020 in 2021. They did not, however, make the 2022 World Cup, which has drawn criticism.
The 167th-ranked Malta will look to improve in their second match under recently hired coach Michele Marcolini, who also happens to be an Italian and a former player for the Italy Under-18 team.
In the opening match, Malta fell to North Macedonia 2-1, with Yannick Yankam's late goal serving just as a consolation. It is not at all unexpected that Malta has never before advanced to a big competition. Yet, football is all about miracles, so they'll be hoping to conjure up one to surprise the Italians.
confirmed starting lineups for Malta vs. Italy Malta XI (3-5-2): Bonello; Apap; Borg; Attard; J. Mbong; Guillaumier; Yankam; N. Muscat; Corbolan; Satariano; Jones
Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Scalvini, Romagnoli, Spinazzola, Pessina, Cristante, Tonali, Politano, Retegui, and Gnonto make up the Italy XI (4-3-3) lineup.
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