Italy edge Israel 5-4, Gattuso: "Too many goals conceded" | OneFootball

A hard-fought, thrilling, yet concerning victory. Gennaro Gattuso's Italy walks away with three points from Debrecen, after the explosive 5-4 against Israel, but the coach does not hide his dissatisfaction with the fragility shown by the team.

Italy, Gattuso bitter after the 5-4 over Israel: "Too many goals conceded, we are fragile but the victory was crucial"

At the end of the match, the Italian coach analyzed the performance without mincing words: "We had to die today, they surprised us at the beginning because they were man-marking our key players. Every time we developed the game and advanced with our two forwards, we put them in difficulty. We were not brilliant and that's okay, it was the second match. We need to improve, but we hold onto this result which was crucial. We are crazy, we conceded absurd goals and we are too fragile. We concede too easily. We come from such a football, but if we want to play as a department we need to correct something".

The coach then added: "We hold onto the victory, credit to the boys because they had the courage to react. However, it is undeniable that we cannot concede goals like that. My staff and I will work on this, it is not a criticism of the players. The mentality, even not being a great day, was there. There was heart and desire to react, but we need more experience and a touch of cunning. Let's enjoy it, these have been eight intense days. I thank the boys, but we know we need to improve".

The voices of the protagonists

Moise Kean, who scored a double, expressed satisfaction but also awareness: "It was an exciting match, this is the beauty of football. Playing up front with Mateo (Retegui) is nice, there is understanding and it is positive. The 2-2 goal? It was important to believe, I had to follow the ball to the end and make a good impact. In these matches, it counts to never give up. Playing without fans is strange, but we gave everything for those at home. Qualification? We believe in it, we are a good team and we can do a lot".

Matteo Politano, who also scored, commented: "Pure madness, but we are happy to have brought home the result. Apart from the goal, I am satisfied with the attitude. We have been working with the coach for a short time and there is a lot to do, especially in the defensive phase. We suffered too much, but our character rewarded us".

Manuel Locatelli, who scored the own goal that opened the scoring for Israel, acknowledged the difficulties: "It was a crazy match. Bad for me, I scored an own goal, but the team's reaction was important. We scored five goals, but we conceded four and we need to analyze this. The coach had warned us that they were fast and direct, they put us in difficulty and we were not attentive enough. It is a crucial victory for the group".

A success that does not erase the fragility

Italy brings home three precious points but remains a work in progress. The attack works, the character is there, but defensive lapses and the management of key moments continue to represent the main challenge for Gattuso ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.