"Spain deserved to win". The analysis of Roberto Mancini is clear following the 2-1 defeat to Spain, that means Italy must now face a Nations League third place play-off tie. It was a game that was decided two minutes before the end of normal time courtesy of Joselu, but the Head Coach admitted that it arrived because "Spain played better than us. We did very little, especially in the second half. The lads gave everything they had. There are things though where we must be disappointed about: the fact that we played a slightly different game to normal gave us some problems because it's not one of our qualities. On Sunday, though, we need to try and do well against the Netherlands."

Ciro Immobile grabbed his first-ever penalty in an Azzurri shirt. The Lazio forward, who hadn't scored for the national side since June 2021, earned his 56th cap (equalling Roberto Baggio) and scored his 16th goal (equalling Luca Toni and Gianluca Vialli), becoming the highest scorer in Mancini's reign with nine, going past Barella and Belotti (eight). "It's a sour return," commented Immobile. "We fought right until the end, and unfortunately conceded in a rather unlucky way. It can happen, football is like that: we'll have to take it but this defeat hurts. Spain make you on edge: they are a tough team to play against. They didn't create a lot of chances, even if they are slightly ahead of us in terms of quality. I'm very disappointed, a draw would have been a fair result." 

Instead, when the game looked as though it was heading to extra-time, the winning goal came from Rodri's right-footed shot, that pinballed in the box taking two deflections off Cristante and Toloi and landing at the feet of Joselu, who couldn't miss. "We gave the ball away too much, too many simple passes misplaced," said defender Francesco Acerbi. "We gave an already strong Spain side too much confidence and didn't do as well as we can. We still need to come together a little more and give a little more. From my point of view, we made Spain look even better than they actually are." The clincher came from Joselu and opened with Yeremi Pino's goal, after an error at the back by Leonardo Bonucci. "I've never hidden away from my reponsibilities. Unfortunately, it was my error that led to the first goal and the ball ended up with him," admitted the Captain. "Then, we fought back well and took control of the game for half of the first half, but at the death it was Spain who were awarded with their only chance. We created several, but games are decided on moments. We really wanted to be in the final, but I wasn't too unhappy with the way we played. There are always moments when you have to sustain pressure and dig in, and not worry too much about not playing great football. In general, we have to grow and develop with many players who are just coming into the national team setup and are playing in some big games."