The woes of Italy have continued after they fell 2-0 at home to Belgium in coach Roberto Mancini’s comeback game and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma got into a fight with Romelu Lukaku.
In 2021, Roberto Mancini led Italy to European Championship gold.
Things went downhill for the nation after that. ‘Gli Azzurri’ missed out on the 2022 World Cup under Mancini, before he resigned to take over at Saudi Arabia.
In Euro 2024, they were eliminated in the round of 16, before failing to qualify for another World Cup (2026) with Luciano Spalletti and Gennaro Gattuso respectively on the coaching bench.
On Friday night, Mancini was back, when Italy hosted Belgium in the Nations League at home at the Olimpico.
But it didn’t work out.
Mika Godts made it 1-0 for Belgium after 11 minutes, and then Dodi Lukebakio doubled the score a bit into the second half.
After the final whistle, there was a scuffle between Gianluigi Donnarumma and Romelu Lukaku, who were both shown yellow cards after shouting and gesticulating at each other.
With the victory, Belgium move up to the top of the group.
The group’s second opening match took place in Turkey, where France won 1-0.
The Belgians also have a new coach who made his debut on the day, former Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel.