At long last, The Azzuri have tasted defeat.
Photo via Reuters
Italy have fallen to a 2-1 loss to Spain in the Nations League semi-final, ending their world-record 37-game unbeaten streak. (This is two games more than Brazil and Spain, who have gone 35 games without losing)
To make matters worse for the Italians, their defeat at the San Siro was also the first time since 1999 that they’ve lost a competitive match on home soil.
Photo via Reuters
It was also the third defeat for Azzuri manager Roberto Mancini since taking charge of the national team in May 2018.
Prior to the Spain defeat, Italy’s impressive unbeaten run had stretched all the way back to September 2018, when they were edged 1-0 by Portugal.
This means the European champions went three calendar years without losing a single match.
Photo via Reuters
During this period, they beat the likes of the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland, not to mention Belgium, Spain and England en route to the Euro 2020 title.
Mancini’s side must now brush off their defeat and prepare for the Nations League third-place playoff against either France or Belgium.
By: Nicholas Darren John
