Inter full-back Federico Dimarco believes qualifying for the EURO 2024 competition is ‘almost an obligation’ for the Azzurri. Italy head into their final qualifying match against Ukraine on Monday evening, knowing that a draw or win will be enough to see them make it to the final 24 teams of next years competition.
Speaking with Rai Sport, Dimarco took stock of the national team following their 5-2 victory over North Macedonia at the Stadio Olimpico, speaking of the ‘obligation’ the team feels to make it through qualifying:
“All matches at international level are difficult, then maybe you can catch the team that is on a bad day. But Ukraine is a strong national team and we have to be careful at any time of the match.”
“To go to the European Championship I think is almost an obligation, Italy won the last one, and the fans demand that we go to the European Championship.”
“North Macedonia? We played a great game, we created a lot, we were proactive and we did what the coach had asked us to do during the week. It happens during matches to have some high moments and some low moments, and in those seven minutes we kind of stopped playing. But then we started to play again, and to create, and we scored two goals that ended the game for good. Many teams after scoring two goals go down and try to defend the result. Not us, we were proactive and created a lot.”
“My goal v Frosinone? That was a shot on goal. First, out of the corner of my eye I look at Dumfries, and in fact I turn my head. Then I see the goalkeeper, I notice that he’s outside, I kicked and the ball went in”.
“The comparison with Roberto Carlos? Let’s not make comparisons, because that’s a player who made football history, so let’s keep our feet on the ground.”
