Luciano Spalletti is under the increase in scrutiny as coach of Italy after a 3-0 loss to Norway, which his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma labeled “not acceptable”.
Spalletti insisted that he wanted to “move on” as a national coach and that he had faith in his “project” after the defeat at the World Cup qualifier in Oslo.
Alexander Sorn, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland scored in the first half for Norway, which is the main group I in UEFA qualification with wins in each of the three matches so far, with Friday’s first match in Italy in the group.
“There is a lot to improve, but I advance with these guys,” said Spalletti after the match, in citations transported by GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT. “And with this project, which is not in question.”
Meanwhile, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, asked his international teammates to take responsibility after the defeat.
“I have no words,” Donnarumma, who won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain six days earlier, said after the game.
“We need to take performance note tonight and improve: our fans don’t deserve it.
“We need to examine our conscience, we need to get out of these nights together. We have to find the strength because we are Italy: These types of correspondences are not acceptable, everyone needs to take responsibility. We have to be more united than ever, we need it.”
Italy and Norway join Israel (six points of three games), Estonia (three points of three games) and Moldova (no two -game points) in the group.
Spalletti, 66, replaced Roberto Mancini as coach of Italy in August 2023 and supervised a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign with an elimination in the last 16 for Switzerland.
The experienced coach guided Napoli to the series A title in 2022-23, the first crown of the club’s 33-year-old League.
(Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
