Gianluigi Donnarumma is angry after Italy’s beating against Germany in the Nations League. The captain of ‘La Squadra Azzurra’ thinks his team should look in the mirror after the 5-2 defeat.
“There are no excuses. We have to tell each other the truth and show who we are next time. Tonight we missed everything. Maybe we were a bit tired after five games in 20 days at the end of the season, but that’s no excuse said Donnarumma.
“I want to apologize to the fans. It just wasn’t right. We have to analyze everything and start over. We all made mistakes, no one excepted. I could have assessed certain situations better myself. We have to learn from this.”
National coach Roberto Mancini was a lot milder for his team. “It’s a shame to end the season like this, but we also showed good things. And let’s not forget that we still have a chance in our Nations League group,” he said.
Mancini said he is experimenting with Italy in the run-up to the World Cup. “In matches like this you sometimes get into difficulties. We played with a lot of young players, but they did well. It was an international match with good and less good things.”
Italy, which already suffered a hopeless 3-0 loss against Argentina in the battle for the Finalissima on June 1, took five points in the previous three Nations League matches and is third in group 3. Hungary leads, ahead of Germany. England is fourth.
Standings group 3 division A
- 1. Hungary 4-7 (+4)
- 2. Germany 4-6 (+3)
- 3. Italy 4-5 (-2)
- 4. England 4-2 (-5)
Flick is proud of Germany
The Germans were obviously a lot more excited after their victory in Dortmund. ‘Die Mannschaft’ ran out to 5-0 (twice) thanks to Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gündogan, Thomas Müller and Timo Werner, after which Wilfried Gnonto and Alessandro Bastoni did something back.
“Everything we had planned was executed brilliantly. After three draws we needed a victory for self-confidence. Of course everything didn’t go perfectly, but that’s okay,” said national coach Hansi Flick.
Captain Manuel Neuer: “We believed in ourselves and went out on the field full of confidence. We played well from the start. It’s annoying that we conceded two more goals, but we shouldn’t talk too much about that today.”
Germany, unlike Italy, is preparing for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year. Japan, Spain and Costa Rica are successively the opponents in the group stage.
View all results, standings and the program in the Nations League