Donnarumma says Italy's form unacceptable after drubbing by Norway
June 7 (Reuters) - Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma offered no excuses for his side's poor showing in their 3-0 defeat at Norway in the World Cup qualifiers on Friday, saying their form was not acceptable and the fans deserve better.
Playing the first match of their qualifying campaign, Italy were stunned after a ruthless first-half performance by Norway, who put three past the visitors thanks to Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland.
Italy sit fourth in Group I, while Norway lead the group with nine points from three matches. Estonia, Moldova and Israel are also in Group I.
"I have no explanation at the moment. You just have to go inside and realise the performance tonight. Our fans don't deserve this," Donnarumma told Italian TV channel Rai Sport.
"We all have to come out of these games together, we need to examine our conscience."
The four-times World Cup winners have not qualified for the global showpiece event since 2014.
Italy manager Luciano Spalletti said his team were going through a difficult patch and that he would speak with the Italian Football Federation about the situation.
"From us, it has to come from us first of all. We are Italy and these matches are not acceptable... We must be more united than before," said Donnarumma, who won the Champions League, Ligue 1, French Cup and French Super Cup titles with Paris St Germain in the recently concluded season.
Italy next host fifth-placed Moldova on Monday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘I had no idea': Chris Harper happy to share spotlight after Simon Yates banishes Giro d'Italia demons
Australian cyclist Chris Harper is yet to properly soak up the ride of his life and first Grand Tour stage victory by watching a replay of his long-range and daring solo attack over the Colle delle Finestre and up the Sestrière. But the 30-year-old climber won't have to look too hard to find highlights in the future after his ride was a major subplot as the decisive story of the 2025 Giro d'Italia unfolded behind him. Harper arrived in Albania for the opening three stages of the Giro with ambitions to prove himself as a general classification contender. A top-10 placing by the time the three-week race finished in Rome was the realistic goal. But a bout of illness hit the Team Jayco AlUla rider on the second rest day and Harper had to lift himself in the third week just to turn his focus toward chasing a stage win. After working his way into the major breakaways that were all chased down on successive days, Harper thought his race was all but done as the Giro landed in Verrès for the penultimate day and queen's stage with more than 4,500m of climbing over 205km to come. Yet almost by accident, Harper found himself in another break, felt he was on a good day and with a healthy dose of what he calls 'white line fever' set off to conquer one of the most brutal climbs in Italy. Further back, Harper's former teammate Simon Yates, now at Team Visma-Lease a Bike, was dropping Isaac del Toro in the maglia rosa and second-placed Richard Carapaz on the Finestre. As Yates blew the race wide open, his remaining challengers for pink did little more than look at each other, and the former Vuelta a España winner became Harper's main concern. 'I didn't know too much about what was going on behind me, I had no idea,' Harper tells Guardian Australia while enjoying his post-race recovery on Santorini. 'I just knew that Simon was solo and that he was putting quite a bit of time into del Toro and Carapaz. On the Finestre, my sports director said, 'Simon's about five and a half minutes behind,' and then they said, 'Oh, but he's two minutes in front of the other GC guys'. 'In my head I knew he was riding for pink but that also made me more nervous because I knew he was going to push full gas to the line to take as much time as he could. I've seen him on a good day and I know what he can do.' Harper and Yates rode together on Jayco AlUla in 2023 and 2024 with the Australian often his teammate's last support in the mountains, including at last year's Tour de France. Rather than feeling overshadowed by the story of Yates banishing his demons from the 2018 Giro when he cracked on much the same stage as Chris Froome took the maglia rosa away from him, Harper is almost as pleased for his friend as for his own breakthrough triumph. The dual celebrations at the end of stage 20 at Sestrière were a reminder that one of the joys of road cycling can be having more than one winner on the same day. 'I was quite nervous once I pulled away alone, especially when the radio said 'Simon's just caught up with Wout [van Aert] and Wout's chasing now',' Harper says. 'They're pretty calm on the radio but you get a sense from the tone in their voice what's happening, you realise how nervous they are. I knew if I blew up, it would be quite easy for Simon to bring back a lot of time on me. So I just paced myself so I'd have a bit left in the tank for the last two or three kilometres. 'Once I got to the last kilometre, they just said, 'You're going to win it, enjoy it, take a moment'. The Finestra is quite a famous climb so it's definitely a nice one to win. I haven't actually watched the race, so I want to go back and watch it just to see what Simon was doing in the GC group as well. He was my teammate and I worked with him a lot, so it'll be nice to sit down and actually watch the stage, soak it in a bit more as well.' Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion 'I was so happy for Simon and it was nice to see him at the finish line and be able to share that moment together. All of it wrapped up into one nice day. It was like all our bad luck went away at the same time, and it was just the perfect day for both of us. The victory was Harper's first since winning a stage and eventually the general classification at the Tour of Japan in 2019, a year before he joined the world tour for the first time with Team Jumbo-Visma. With a first taste of personal success for six years, Harper wants to chase more stages while continuing to explore what he is capable of on GC again at this year's Vuelta. 'I didn't even think about it,' he says. 'My manager made a joke that I celebrated twice, once before the finish line and then after I crossed the line. I haven't won a lot so I don't have a lot of practice. It didn't hurt to get two celebrations in the one.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Tuchel unhappy with England attitude after Andorra toil
BARCELONA, June 7 (Reuters) - England coach Thomas Tuchel criticised his team after they struggled to a 1-0 victory away to Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday. The German has won his first three matches in charge with no goals conceded but had it not been for Harry Kane's 50th-minute goal his team would have faced humiliation against a side ranked 173rd in the world. After collecting the three points that put England in command of Group K, Tuchel made no attempt to sugar coat a performance that was way below par. "We can just admit it that it's not what we expect from us. We need to look at it in detail and do better on Tuesday," the German told ITV Sport. "We lost all momentum after the first 25 minutes and lacked the quality and the energy. I was most worried in the last 20 minutes, I did not like the attitude that we ended the game with. I didn't like the lack of urgency. It is still a World Cup qualifier away from home." England had 83% of the possession against a nation they had scored 25 goals against without reply in six previous meetings, but suffered from a chronic lack of imagination. Asked if his message before the game had not got through to his players, Tuchel added: "The message got across because we had a good 25 minutes but then the energy and the determination weren't there anymore." It was a refreshingly honest take from the former Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager whose contract with England only runs to the date of next year's World Cup final. He did have kind words, however, for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke whose display was about the only bright point for England. "He was over the course of the match, the most dangerous. I could feel his hunger to do what was the plan throughout the whole of the match," Tuchel said. Captain Kane, whose goal was the 450th of his career for club and country, also praised Madueke. "I think he was a constant threat today and got the assist for the goal, but we need more of that," Kane said. "We have amazing players and we need players who are not afraid to take players on and if they lose it, do it again." England host Senegal in a friendly in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Ogier, Tanak take Sardinia battle of champions into final day
June 7 (Reuters) - Sebastien Ogier will be determined to avoid more Rally Italy heartache when he and Ott Tanak, who seized victory by a whisker last year, again duel in Sunday's final stages in Sardinia. Toyota's eight-times world champion ended Saturday's penultimate leg 11.1 seconds clear of his Hyundai rival with four stages and a total of 77.7km remaining before the finish of the Olbia-based event. Last year the Frenchman had a 17.1-second lead at the same point but ended up losing by 0.2 seconds to the Estonian 2019 champion after a puncture in the final stage -- the joint closest finish in world rally championship history. Ogier started Saturday with a 2.1-second lead over Adrien Fourmaux but the Hyundai driver rolled out on the day's fifth of six stages over rocky and dusty roads in the north of the Mediterranean island. "It's been a long day," said Ogier, who won three of the stages. "The afternoon was rough. But I'm happy so far. Good race management." Toyota's double world champion Kalle Rovanpera moved up to third but 55.5 seconds off the lead, with championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans fourth and Sami Pajari fifth -- four Toyotas in the top five. Hyundai's world champion Thierry Neuville retired on Friday after hitting an earth bank and was 26th overall after returning on Saturday. Evans led Rovanpera by 30 points going into the season's sixth round, with Ogier third and Tanak fourth.
