Luciano Spalletti praised the “maturity” of his Italy team, which beat Israel 2-1 to move to the top of its Nations League group. “The players are now following the positions they hold at club level.”

It was their second consecutive Nations League win, but the Azzurri again failed to keep a clean sheet as they conceded a goal in the last minute through Mohammad Abu Fani.

Davide Frattesi chested down a Federico Dimarco cross to open the scoring before Moise Kean ended his three-year goal drought for the Italian national team.

Spalletti sees a new Italy emerging

“It was a great game because there were so many dangers that we talked about and we saw them tonight, especially in the first half,” Spalletti told RAI Sport.

“They’re deep, you might be tired and not make the right decisions. There’s a lot of traffic in the middle, so it’s difficult to find those passing channels.”

This was the first time that Italy started with five players born in 2000 or later, but the coach praised their maturity.

“The fact that the players were organized and orderly and waited for the right moment was a sign of great maturity.”

The switch to a 3-5-2 formation proved crucial for the Nazionale after a dismal EURO 2024 and was also inspired by the way many Serie A clubs already play.

“Tactically, the boys did well to know their positions, but now they follow the positions they have at club level. They know where the other is going to be and we saw that the passing game is much better in the second half,” concluded Spalletti.

France beat Belgium 2-0 in Lyon tonight with goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele. That leaves Italy top of their Nations League group with six points, followed by France and Belgium with three points each.