It wasn't a beautiful Italy in Firenze, but the 1‑1 keeps the World Cup dream alive

At Franchi, Italy start with the right attitude against a Belarus side that, defending with almost the entire squad behind the line, takes the lead in the early minutes; the 1‑1 draw in Florence, however, does not leave heavy baggage because the passage to the next round has already been secured.

A performance that suggests an easy win

The result in Tbilisi, where Italy had won 2‑0 away on neutral ground, had left a bitter taste; in Florence the team instead settled into the opponents' rhythm, lacking the “hardness” in the final 20 metres that could have made things easier.

In the second half, the great desire to score exposed the team to Belarus's counter‑attacks, which found the equaliser thanks to the courage earned.

The players' words

“In the final embrace there is the desire to bounce back already at the next camp and understand what more is needed to go to Brazil, which is our goal,” explained Andrea Soncin at the press conference, adding that the two matches are very different.

Emma Severini echoed: “Perhaps the choice was missing in the last area of the pitch. We kept the ball for almost the whole match and we need to improve, because we needed the goal.”

Giada Greggi highlighted the need for more visibility: “We are satisfied with the first half, but in the second half we dropped off and we need to improve in these aspects.”

Barbara Bonansea and Martina Rosucci have already looked to Finland, dreaming of playing in Turin: “I would like to play in Turin, it would be great. Even in the South there is a lot of warmth, the important thing is to choose a stadium where people want to come to see us.”