Sandro Tonali played 75 minuted for Italy in their 5-0 win over Estonia last night.
Sandro Tonali earned solid reviews after helping Italy secure a dominant 5-0 win over Estonia last night.
Italy went into the game as pre-match favourites under new manager Genarro Gattuso. Italy - who have astonishingly not qualified for the World Cup since 2014 - pulled the trigger on Luciano Spalletti in June after back-to-back defeats against Norway and Moldova.
Gli Azzurri went into the Estonia game desperate for three points - the fixture was viewed as a must-win clash - and they came through with flying colours. Goals from Moise Kean, Giacomo Raspadori, Allessandro Bastoni and Mateo Retegui brace ensured a comfortable victory.
Sandro Tonali gets 7/10 rating
Football Italia rated Tonali as a 7/10 for his performance last night. The Newcastle United ace enjoyed 90 per cent passing accuracy and almost scored in the second half before being subbed on 75 minutes.
“Passing accuracy over 90 per cent, won almost all duels (five out of six),” the news site wrote. “Too bad his volley in the second half was saved by (Karl) Hein.”
Gennaro Gattuso on Italy performance
Gattuso hailed his team after starting international management with a win. He told Sky Sports Italia: “We knew that we had to take some risks, leaving one-on-one situations on the counter-attack, as we had so many forwards on the field.
“It was important to work the ball down the flanks, attack their channels, and we were unlucky not to score earlier. I congratulate the lads, because for three days we’ve had an incredible atmosphere in training.
“As I always said, this team has quality, but you get nowhere with quality alone. This team has to do everything vehemently, attack the ball, press hard, show hunger, and I think we saw all of that today.”
“The team did well with the full-backs pushing forward and combining with the forwards. It’s natural that when the level of the opposition goes up, we must also be more careful and concentrated.”
Read More
Sandro Tonali on Gennaro Gattuso
Tonali opened up about his relationship with Gattuso earlier this year. The Toon ace told UEFA: “What impact has Gattuso had on my career? We met a few times and on each occasion he explained many things about himself, about football, he also gave me a lot of advice that will make a difference in the future.
"We have a good relationship, almost a friendship because it's not a normal relationship. He scolds me even when he has to, he can be tough because he wants the best from everyone, we all know how he is. If he has a goal, he wants to reach it at any cost, giving all he can. He is a special person, a good person, a pure person, he helps you in a thousand different ways.
"He gave everything he could, from start to finish, without ever giving up, his grit was recognised by everyone. He could run non-stop, he played even when he was injured, he could play in a thousand different ways. He was always there, he always ran, he put his heart into everything he did.
“I'm happy to have met such a person, I'm happy to have met my idol and I was able to talk to him often. I think he was a great champion and he showed it on the pitch. There's time for me to prove it, getting close to him would be incredible."
Continue Reading