Euro 2020, Belgium vs Italy Preview: Can Belgium pass Roberto Mancini’s Italian challenge to reach semifinals?

Belgium, for nearly six years, have been one of the top-ranked teams as per FIFA rankings. At this point, the side led by manager Roberto Martinez is the no. 1 ranked team in the world for quite some time now. But despite being one of the best teams in the world, Belgium have yet no trophies to show for it. Could Euro 2020 be their time? (Euro 2020 Full Coverage)

It could be if Martinez’ Belgium pass the next test in front of them – Roberto Mancini’s Italy. The two teams will clash in the Euro 2020 Quarterfinals on Friday, and at this point, it is hard to pick who would come out as the better team from the contest among the two.

Also read: Belgium vs Italy: When and where to watch – Live Streaming

Both Belgium and Italy have won all their four games so far in the tournament, and are seen as potential contenders to win the title. The elimination of France, Germany, and Portugal has further strengthened Belgium and Italy’s odds if they make it to the final.

But can Belgium pass the Italy test? The big worry for them would be the fact that Eden Hazard and their playmaker Kevin de Bruyne, are both suffering from injuries that could potentially rule them out of the contest, which would make it hard for them to breach Italian defence.

Italy have been one of the best defensive sides over the past couple of years. The goal Italy conceded against Austria during their 2-1 win in the Round of 16 match was the first goal they had conceded in 19 hours and 28 minutes of footballing action.

With Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Chiesa, and Matteo Pessina being some of the goalscorers in the Euro 2020 for the side, Italy have also showcased their skills in front of the goals, scoring 9 in 4 games so far.

“We will play our own game, well aware that we are up against the best team in the world at this moment of time,” Mancini said, as per Sky Sports, at the pre-match conference. “If they have been top of the FIFA rankings for three years, it means they have been very good for a long time, but we will still play our way.

“We could tweak a few things along the way if things do not go to plan, but we have a certain style of play and Belgium do too. I am sure it will be a wonderful game of football. The winner will be the team who makes the fewest errors,” he added.

The battle between the two teams is guaranteed to be a test of wills and desire for both teams. While Belgium would hope Romelu Lukaku and Thorgan Hazard provide the goods in front of goals against Italy, Italian fans would wish for a Immobile trademark hat-trick to seal the deal.