Italy began life under Gennaro Gattuso with a 5-0 win over Estonia and Newcastle United star Sandro Tonali once again impressed.
As good as the Newcastle United star has been at club level, the international stage has been more difficult for Tonali.
While the midfielder has certainly put in some impressive performances for his country, the Italian national team have endured one of their worst ever periods.
They haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 2014, while they also struggled at Euro 2024 despite winning the delayed tournament three years earlier.
The Azzurri are third in their qualification group but raised hope of an improvement with what turned out to be a resounding win over Estonia on Friday night at Atalanta’s Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Here’s how the Italian media reacted to Tonali’s performance.
Sandro Tonali strikes the ball during Italy's World Cup qualifier against Estonia.
Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images
Not long after the game, Sky Sports Italia delivered their player ratings.
They gave Tonali a 6.5/10, writing: “He’s the driving force of the Azzurri midfield: he covers miles from start to finish and tries to deliver balls into the opponent’s box. He lacks the perfect pass, but he has a barrage of opponents in front of him, and it becomes mandatory to move to the flanks. In a melee, he volleys well but hits the goalkeeper.
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Football Italia, meanwhile, handed the midfielder a 7/10 and said: “Passing accuracy over 90% (via Sofascore), won almost all duels (five out of six). Too bad his volley in the second half was saved by [Karl] Hein.”
How Sandro Tonali played for Italy against Estonia
To suggest Italy are now back as a force on the international stage feels unwise, though it was certainly a positive result in Gattuso’s first game.
Still, Estonia are 126th in the FIFA World Rankings, so it would have been a shock if Italy hadn’t beaten them – particularly at home.
Italy vs Estonia statistics Sandro Tonali
Minutes played 76
Touches 79
Chances created 5
Shots 3
Ground duels won 5/6
Clearances 3
Recoveries 4
Sandro Tonali stats for Italy vs Estonia, data via FotMob
A look at FotMob’s data, however, underlines how impressive Tonali proved to be.
The 25-year-old created the most chances in the game (5) and drew the highest number of fouls (3).
Tonali had 79 touches in his 76 minutes on the pitch, three of which came in Estonia’s box. He didn’t lose the ball at all and contributed defensively too, making three clearances and four ball recoveries while also winning five of his six ground duels.