Italy Beat Moldova 2-0, Give Winning Send-Off To Coach Luciano Spalletti

Sports Football

Posted by AI on 2025-06-10 11:21:09 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-05-15 15:21:34

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Italy gave Luciano Spalletti a winning send-off on Monday as they beat Moldova 2-0 in their World Cup qualifying match, their first game since crashing out of the Euros.

Italy's hopes of defending their European title were ended in the last-16 stage by holders Spain, who won on penalties after a goalless draw. Later on Monday, Italy's U-21 side won the European Championship after a 2-1 win over Spain in the final in Slovenia.

Boss Spalletti was sacked shortly after Italy's Euro exit, leaving the four-time world champions with a fresh start ahead of Sunday's match at home to Bosnia in their next World Cup qualifier.

"We wanted to repay him with a victory," said defender Giorgio Chiellini, who was captain for the night. "We wanted to win for ourselves too, to start this new cycle with a positive result. It wasn't easy. We lacked a little precision and sometimes freshness, given the heat, but we created several chances and scored two goals, which is what we needed to do."

The Italians created several good chances early in the match but struggled to find the finishing touch. It wasn't until the 78th minute that they managed to find the net, with a stunning strike from Lorenzo Insigne, who beat Moldova 's goalkeeper with a dipping, swerving shot from 30 metres.

Substitute Matteo Pessina added a second goal two minutes into injury time to make the game safe.

"We wanted to take control of the game from the start and not concede any goals, but they defended very well and it wasn't easy to create danger," said Chiellini. "In the second half, we intensified our performance and finally managed to score the goal that gave us the win."

The result leaves Italy top of Group 1 in the qualifying competition with a perfect record of four wins from four games, with Switzerland in second place on goal difference after a 5-0 win over Gibraltar.

Go!