Italy 1-2 England: Kane makes history as Three Lions gain revenge over Azzurri

In
a
repeat
of
a
Euro
2020
final
that
was
won
by
the
Azzurri,
Gareth
Southgate’s
side
gained
a
measure
of
revenge
in
their
Group
C
opener
at
Stadio
Diego
Armando
Maradona
on
Thursday
(March
23).

Declan
Rice
opened
the
scoring
and
Kane
deservedly
doubled
England’s
lead
with
his
54th
goal
for
his
country
from
the
penalty
spot,
breaking
the
record
he
shared
with
Wayne
Rooney.

The
Argentina-born
Mateo
Retegui
reduced
the
deficit
with
a
debut
strike,
but
Italy
suffered
their
first
home
loss
to
England
since
June
1961
and
saw
a
run
of
40
European
Championship
qualifying
matches
without
defeat
come
to
a
halt
in
Naples
despite
Luke
Shaw’s
red
card
in
the
80th
minute.

54
–
Harry
Kane
has
the

@England
men’s
record
for:

Goals
scored
(54)
Goals
as
captain
(46)
Goals
via
penalties
(18)
Goals
in
a
single
year
(16
in
2021)
Goals
in
major
tournaments
(12)

Legend.

pic.twitter.com/7hrK8G5YRt

—
OptaJoe
(@OptaJoe)

March
23,
2023

There
was
a
touching
pre-match
tribute
to
the
late
Gianluca
Vialli
before
England
quickly
stamped
their
authority
on
the
game,
the
alert
Rice
firing
home
left-footed
from
inside
the
box
13
minutes
in
after
Kane’s
shot
was
blocked.

England
were
dominant
and
Kane
made
history
to
double
their
lead
late
in
the
first
half,
calmly
sending
Donnarumma
the
wrong
way
from
the
spot
following
a
VAR
check
for
a
Giovanni
Di
Lorenzo
handball.

Jack
Grealish
sliced
wide
when
he
ought
to
have
added
a
third
goal
moments
later
at
the
end
of
another
blistering
Three
Lions
attack.

Italy
looked
like
a
different
side
after
the
break
and
Retegui
controlled
a
clever
reverse
pass
from
Lorenzo
Pellegrini
before
beating
Jordan
Pickford
with
a
clinical
right-foot
finish
11
minutes
into
the
second
half.

Roberto
Mancini’s
side
continued
to
put
England
under
pressure
and
Shaw
was
given
his
marching
orders
for
upending
Retegui
just
a
couple
of
minutes
after
he
had
been
booked
for
time-wasting.

Italy
were
unable
to
salvage
a
point,
though,
as
England
dug
in
to
see
out
a
hard-earned
victory
in
a
great
start
to
their
qualifying
campaign.

What
does
it
mean?
Three
Lions
finally
pull
off
Italian
job

Not
since
a
3-2
triumph
in
May
1961
had
England
won
away
to
Italy,
but
they
were
not
to
be
denied
on
this
occasion
and
have
now
secured
maximum
points
in
18
of
their
past
19
European
Championship
qualifiers.

This
was
their
first
victory
over
Italy
anywhere
since
August
2012,
with
the
Azzurri
losing
a
Euro
qualifier
for
the
first
time
since
France
beat
them
3-1
in
September
2006.

After
failing
to
qualify
for
the
World
Cup
in
Qatar
last
year,
Mancini’s
men
must
regroup
as
the
holders
look
to
return
to
a
major
tournament
in
Germany
next
year.

Kane
out
on
his
own

Captain
Kane
endured
the
pain
of
a
costly
missed
penalty
when
England
were
knocked
out
of
the
World
Cup
at
the
quarter-final
stage
by
France
in
their
last
match.

Tottenham’s
leading
all-time
scorer
made
amends
to
surpass
Rooney’s
total
in
his
81st
game
for
the
Three
Lions.

Kane
also
has
the
most
goals
as
captain
(46)
for
England,
the
most
penalties
(18),
the
highest
number
of
goals
in
a
year
(16
in
2021)
and
more
goals
in
major
tournaments
(12)
than
any
other
player.

Retegui
takes
his
chance

Mancini
defended
his
decision
to
look
overseas
and
select
Retegui,
bemoaning
the
lack
of
attacking
options
at
his
disposal.

The
striker
took
his
opportunity,
although
that
will
be
of
little
consolation
to
the
defending
champions.

Key
Opta
facts

–
This
was
only
Italy’s
fourth
ever
home
defeat
in
a
European
Championship
qualifier
and
their
first
since
losing
3-2
to
Denmark
in
September
1999.

–
Harry
Kane
has
scored
in
18
of
his
last
19
qualifying
appearances
for
major
tournaments
(World
Cup/Euros),
scoring
27
goals
across
these
games.

–
Gareth
Southgate
has
become
only
the
third
manager
in
England’s
history
to
register
50
wins,
along
with
Walter
Winterbottom
and
Alf
Ramsey.

–
Italy
conceded
two
goals
in
a
home
European
Championship
qualifier
for
the
first
time
this
century
–
the
last
team
before
England
to
achieve
this
were
Denmark
in
a
3-2
win
in
September
1999,
also
in
Naples.

–
Mateo
Retegui,
who
plays
for
Tigre
in
Argentina,
is
the
only
player
in
the
history
of
the
Italian
national
team
to
score
his
first
goal
for
the
nation
while
playing
his
club
football
outside
of
Europe.

What’s
next?

England
take
on
Ukraine
at
Wembley
on
Sunday
(March
26),
when
Italy
make
the
trip
to
face
Malta.