Roberto Mancini concedes that Argentina was better after the Italian national team fell to a 3-0 defeat in Finalissima at the Wembley Stadium, England, yesterday.
Mancini pointed out that Azzurri flawed in the first half for failing to capitalise on some key opportunities that could have given them leverage to contend with a formidable side that has remained undefeated in 32 matches.
Italy failed to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar after they were defeated by North Macedonia in the semi-final of the qualifier playoff.
According to Mancini, the Italian national team that also failed to feature in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia after they were sent out by Sweden in the second round playoffs, lamented that his team made little impact in the second half.
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“The first half we made two mistakes on the two goals, but the game was balanced. At that point, they did better to keep the ball and move it around well. They were better,” Mancini told RAI Sport in a post-match interview.
“We should’ve tried to score a goal and open up the game again, but in the second half, we did far too little to turn this around. We had chances in the first half and should’ve taken more of them then,” he added.
First-half goals from Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria and a rout from Paulo Dybala were enough to hand the Argentina team a superb win.
Italy’s shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma was acknowledged for making some brilliant saves to deny fellow PSG teammate and ‘Man of the Match’ award winner, Lionel Messi, a goal.
