Daniel Maldini made his national team debut

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The moment è came during the 73′ of Italy-Israel, a minute after the third Azzurri goal, scored by Frattesi: taking over from Raspadori, Daniel Maldini made his debut with the national team jersey, thus becoming the third member of his family, after grandfather Cesare and father Paolo, to represent the Bel Paese with the ball at his feet.

“It was a strong emotion – commented the Monza striker in the post-match, at the microphones of Rai Sport – I am very happy to have entered, even more so because the match went well. We were always in control, at their goal we reacted and we closed it”.

Among those present, in the stands, was Paolo Maldini himself, a legend of Milan and the national team, with which he was vice World Champion in 1994 and European champion in 2000: “It’s nice that he came, I haven&#39t had a chance to talk to him yet but I will when I get home” said Maldini junior.

Monday nightè’s was the 141th appearance of a member of the Maldini family in the national team: Cesare played 14 games in the Azzurri between 1960 and 1963 without ever scoring, Paolo, on the other hand, collected 126 appearances between 1988 and 2002, with 7 goals to his credit.

Nations League, Italy-Israel 4-1

Third victory in four Nations League matches for Luciano Spalletti’s Italy, which at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine overcame Israel 4-1 and confirmed its leading position in Group 2 of League A. 10 points in the standings for the Azzurri, who only need a point against Belgium next November 14 to advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.

Having overcome an initial study phase, Italy made itself dangerous on several occasions already in the first half from Glazer’s sides: it was mainly Retegui who came close to scoring, without having any luck, at least until 41 minutes in, when the referee whistled a penalty for a foul in Dor Peretz’s box on Tonali and the Atalanta striker did not miss from the eleven meters.

The Azzurri continued to attack even in the early stages of the second half, and the pressure of Spalletti’s team found new concretization in 54′: cross from Raspadori’s free kick, header by Di Lorenzo (captain of the evening given the non-use of Gigio Donnarumma, whom the coach preferred Vicario for today) who thus signed 2-0.

Israel tries to reopen the match and does so with a disputed goal scored, directly from the corner kick flag, by Abu Fani at 66′: the Azzurri protest for an alleged charge against Vicario, for the referee and the VAR Room there are però no reasons to cancel. However, 6′ pass and Italy puts two goals back in the gap: low cross from the left by Dimarco, Frattesi concludes first and seals the tris.

In minute 79 also comes the fourth goal, of a rather similar construction but with different interpreters: this time the low pass, again from the left side, è by Udogie (who entered a few minutes earlier for Dimarco), the goal è by Di Lorenzo, who in a single evening scores two goals while in the previous 41 appearances he had scored a total of three.

There are no other emotions until the triple whistle, Italy leaves the home of Udinese with three more points and the fourth consecutive useful result, which puts the Azzurri back on track after the bitter comeback suffered at the Olimpico against Belgium (from 2-0 to 2-2) last Thursday.

Paul Pogba: “Goodbye to Juve? I have a contract”

He is still about five months away from his return to the field, after the reduction of his disqualification, but Paul Pogba è already at the center of numerous market rumors concerning him, one of them being the one regarding the approach of his name to Olympique Marseille, coached by the Italian Roberto De Zerbi. The transalpine footballer, however, held to deny the hypothesis, confirming that he is focused on returning to the field and reiterating that he is under contract with Juventus.

“These rumors make me a little smile,” Pogba said during an interview with ‘LEquipe’ -, because it all stems from a joke by Patrice Evra. It’s not a credible hypothesis, I am still bound by a contract and there’s no negotiations in place with any club”.

So the 31-year-old doesn&#39t want to get more out of line about his future? “I’m not thinking about Ligue 1 or who knowsà where, right now I’m part of a club, my only interest è to come back and play. Then è clear, we don’t know what will happen è in the future, never say never”.

Returning to Juve in the summer of 2022 after a first experience in bianconero between 2012 and 2016 and a long parenthesis of five seasons at Manchester United, Pogba è never managed to make his mark since rejoining the ranks of the Piedmontese club, partly because of the four-year disqualification imposed on him by the National Anti-Doping Tribunal effective October 2023, a punishment reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.