Italians are already trembling: is the U21 team putting together a package with France?

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A day before the last group match at the U21 European Championship, the newspapers discovered a conspiracy in our southern neighbour. Because if there are two results, the Italians have to go home – regardless of whether they beat Norway or not.

The situation in Group D couldn’t be more tense, with France on six points, Italy and Switzerland on three. It is therefore possible that France, Italy and Switzerland will finish the group with six points. Lots of room for speculation.

Excitement at 6 point final

Because if Switzerland wins 3: 2 or 4: 3 against France, the tournament is over for the “Azzurrini”. In a 6-point final, these criteria are decisive in a direct comparison of the first three: points in a direct comparison, goal difference in a direct comparison and goals in a direct comparison.

If we win against France, Switzerland is through anyway, if our Swiss win 4:3, the goal difference is the same for all three teams. The goals scored would then decide in a direct comparison. In this case it would be 6:6 for Switzerland, 5:5 for France and 4:4 for Italy. Italy is third.

With a 3-2 win by Switzerland against France, Italy is again behind. In this case, the direct encounter between France and Italy (2:1) would come into play, as Switzerland has the best goal difference (5:5). Italy would again be in third place.

In Italy, of course, people assume the worst: a package between Switzerland and France, or in Italian a “biscotto” (German biscuit).

Bad memories of 2004

For Italy, the assumption evokes a painful memory. At the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, the Italians were eliminated in the last group game because Sweden and Denmark played 2-2 in the last game. With this result, both Scandinavians were in the quarter-finals and Italy drew the shortest straw with third place. The fuss in Italy was big then and probably would be big this time too. (jsl)

Source : Blick