Italy were surprisingly eliminated from Euro 2024 by Switzerland. The Italians were easily beaten 2-0 by Switzerland at Berlin's Olympiastadion and exit the prestigious competition early. Luciano Spalletti's side also failed to show the right character, which at least characterized them in the draw against Croatia in their last group game.
Former English striker Gary Lineker expressed his disappointment with the Italians' performance on BBC One:
"I don't think I've ever seen, in my life, an Italian team weaker than this one."
In 2006, Italy won the World Cup for the fourth time in the same stadium they play today, beating France on penalties. Three years ago, the Azzurri went to Wembley and crushed England's dreams in another penalty shoot-out to win their third European Championship title.
There are talented players in this squad but, from what was seen against Switzerland, character is lacking, the Italians a far cry from the skill of Andrea Pirlo, the wit of Marco Materazzi, or the keen knowledge of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. Of those who started in the win over England in 2021, only goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, defender Giovanni di Lorenzo, midfielder Nicolo Barella and striker Federico Chiesa were in Spalletti's line-up in the poor performance in Berlin.
The former England captain, Alan Shearer, also expressed his disappointment with the Azzurri's performance:
"It's incredible how it's changed from three years ago to now. I was really surprised at how bad Italy was. They offered nothing in any position, Switzerland played them. They dominated the game and gave Italy no chance. They were very weak in attack, they didn't offer anything in front of goal. There was no threat. They were very weak, especially in advanced positions."
