Gabriele Gravina noted that ex-coach of the blue-yellows Andrei Shevchenko was one of the first to congratulate Squadra Azzurra on qualifying for the tournament
The president Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Gabriele Gravina believes that the team Italy deserved access to European Championship 2024. The functionary commented on the scandalous episode with an unassigned penalty in the match with Ukraine.
“Andriy Shevchenko was the first who came to congratulate us, he is a friend with whom I have a direct line for many years, he knows who we are and appreciates with his heart what FIGC does for the Ukrainian people. We deserved it in that match, just as we rightly deserved qualification in a difficult group with four difficult teams.”
“A penalty for the Ukrainian national team that was not awarded? Reducing the performance to one episode seems to me pure masochism. It is a serious disrespect for the Italian national team not to give due credit for the qualification, the excellent performance of the players at a difficult moment when we had to change the coach during the selection process.”
“I think detractors would say that the GDP collapsed because of Gravina, who forced Jorginho to take a penalty, but he did not convert it… As a joke, I will ask NOC President Giovanni Malago to include in the statute that the head of the federation who does not qualify, from now on must be considered invalid.”
Let us remind you that the Ukrainian national team in the final match of the group stage of Euro 2024 qualification was unable to win the victory it needed over Italy. The Ukrainians ended the nominally home match, which took place in Leverkusen, in a draw – 0:0.
One of the key moments of the match happened already in stoppage time: Brian Cristante brought down Mikhail Mudryk in his own penalty area, but neither the main referee nor the VAR officials saw any violation in this episode on the part of the Italian.
After the match, many experts and football personalities agreed that Ukraine deserved to take a penalty in that episode. Those who acknowledged this included Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and former national team striker Mario Balotelli.
The Italian national team qualified for the 2024 European Championship. Squadra Azzurra will play in Group B with Spain, Croatia and Albania. The Ukrainian national team has a chance to get into Group E with Belgium, Slovakia and Romania if it wins Path B of the Nations League playoffs.
Source: Sportarena
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