Euro 2024: Italy, Croatia 1-1 draw sends Italy to knockouts
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Berlin: In the final round of group play, Italy, the reigning champions, advanced past Croatia thanks to Mattias Zaccagni's dramatic 1-1 equaliser. Knowing that a victory would be necessary to advance to the round of 16, Croatia began with an aggressive mindset.
Five minutes in, Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy had to tip the ball around the post due to a hammer shot from 20 metres out by Luka Sucic, who had generated the first clearcut chance.
Italy needed some time to gain a foothold and came close in the 20th minute when Mateo Retegui headed Ricaardo Calafiori's cross goalwards, IANS reported.
Luciano Spalletti's men should have taken the lead before halftime but neither Alessandro Bastoni nor Lorenzo Pellegrini was able to overcome Croatia custodian Dominik Livakovic, who was equal to both promising efforts.
After the restart, Croatia grabbed the lead as Donnarumma initially defused Luka Modric's penalty attempt, but the Squadra Azzurra couldn't clear the ball from the area, allowing Modric to tap home another parry from Donnaruma from very close range.
Italy started an onslaught on Croatia's goal area as Spalletti's men needed a share of the spoils to book their berth for the next round.
Bastoni came close with a header, but Croatia's well-positioned defence was able to keep Italy at bay. It looked like Croatia would go through with a narrow win, but Calafiori initiated a last attack before teeing up for Zaccagni, who curled the ball from the edge of the box into the top right corner to flabbergast Croatia.