Evenly matched? Italy defeated the Norwegian coach with 3 goals and was slapped in the face. Ranieri was called to come out to put out the fire

In the early morning of June 7, a strong dialogue was staged in the third round of Group I of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. The Nordic team defeated the visiting Blues Italian team 3-0, and won three consecutive victories in the qualifiers. Italian coach Spaletti, who claimed to be evenly matched with Norway before the game, was slapped in the face again. After a three-goal defeat, some media have called on the old coach Ranieri to come out to put out the fire.

In this World Cup qualifier, Italy's grouping is actually quite good. Among the teams in the same group, only Norway is slightly stronger, but he has missed the World Championship for many years. The strength of teams such as Israel, Estonia and Moldova can only be considered average. This is already a signing for the Italian team, which has missed the main tournament for two consecutive World Cups. At the pre-match press conference with Norway, head coach Spalletti was still full of confidence and said that this was a close match.

However, after the game began, the Norwegian team, who played at home, launched a fierce attack. Although their possession rate is at a disadvantage, they repeatedly create threats on the offensive end. In the 14th minute, Noosa made a straight pass and assisted, Atletico Madrid center Selot shot from a small angle and opened Donnarumma's ten fingers, Norway led 1-0 at home. In the 34th minute, Tosby passed the ball, Noosa got the ball from the left and broke through and shot one way. Donnarumma was powerless to do anything about this explosive shot. In the 42nd minute, Odegao made a straight pass, Manchester City center Haaland went to the meeting alone and passed Donnarumma to score an empty goal, Norway led 3-0.

changed sides and fought again, Italy's offense still did not improve, while Norway almost expanded the score to 4-0 in the 66th minute. It was not until the fourth minute of injury time that Lorenzo Luca headed the ball, completing the only Italian team's shot in the game. In the end, Norway played a triumphant song 3-0, while Italy suffered a black start in the World Cup.

In this game, the Italian team had a 62% possession rate, but only had a pitiful 6 shots and 1 front-line, while Norway scored 3 goals with 8 shots and 4 front-line. Judging from the game process, Italy not only has no highlights on the offensive end, but also has no use in the midfield and has been repeatedly broken by Norwegian team. The 21-year-old Verona central defender Coppola is unable to resist the defense line under the impact of the Norwegian trident composed of Haaland, Noosa and Thrott.

In other words, Italy lost to its opponents in three lines in this game, and what Spaletti said before the game was a brag. Of course, even if he lost the game, the bald coach still said he would not resign, and only revealed that he would change the starting lineup in the next game against Estonia. But from the current point of view, after losing the game against his strongest opponent Norway, Italy has only played one game, but the qualifying situation is already in danger. Because of Norwegian team's ability to abuse food, they are still very sure of defeating the other opponents. It is probably no wonder that the Italian team is weak on both offense and defense, and it is still upset.

In response to this situation, the famous Italian journalist Stefano Salandin called on social media to invite the retired coach Ranieli to put out the fire. "If the Italian Football Association is still clear-headed, it should visit Ranieli immediately and beg him to take over the Italian national team out of compassion out of pilgrimage to prepare for the play-offs in the future (this is the only realistic possibility), because the team coached by Spaletti is unimaginable how to move forward." Judging from the current situation, the pot-fighter may be the only choice. After all, Ancelotti has served as the head coach of the Brazilian team, and the Italian Football Association has no other better choice.