Italy faced Austria at Stadio Guido Teghil in Italy on November 11, and they lost the match 0-1 prior to their match against Northern Ireland. On the other hand, Austria will host Slovakia for their second match of this international break following a boosting win against a very good European team.
The result was a little bit surprising, especially when knowing that the match was played in Italy. This does not diminish Austria’s merit and does not mean that they are weaker than Italy. On the contrary, Austria showed during the latest WEURO 2022 that they are a very talented and solid team that can disturb any opponent, including the title holders, England, when they played against them during the group stage. Nevertheless, Italy were the favourites to win in this friendly encounter since they played at home and knew that they have more quality players in their squad.
In this tactical analysis article, we will discover what led to Italy’s loss from a tactical perspective while exploring Austria’s attacking tactics and how they were able to win against a tough Italian team in an away game. The analysis will begin by presenting both teams’ line-ups.
Lineups
Italy’s head coach Milena Bertolini preferred to start the match according to the 3-5-2 formation with Francesca Durante as a goalkeeper, Elisa Bartoli, Elena Linari and Maria Luisa Filangeri as the three centre-backs, Martina Rosucci, Arianna Caruso and Aurora Galli in midfield, Juventus’ Lisa Boattin and Barbara Bonansea as wing-backs while the attacking duo was formed of Milan’s Valentina Giacinti and Inter’s Elisa Polli.
On the other side, Austria’s head coach, Irene Fuhrmann, opted for the 4-1-4-1 formation with Manuela Zinsberger as a goalkeeper, Laura Wienroither, Carina Wenninger, Marina Georgieva and Verena Hanshaw in defence, Sarah Puntigam as a defensive midfielder, Laura Feiersinger and Sarah Zadrazil as central midfielders while Julia Hickelsberger-Füller and Barbara Dunst played on the wings and Nicole Billa was the team’s striker.
Italy’s defensive weaknesses and Austria’s solid attacking performance
Bertolini mixed her starting line-up with experienced players and less experienced ones such as Durante, Filangeri and Polli. These players do not have plenty of international experience and the head coach thought that this was the best opportunity to give them some playing time and have an extensive idea of their abilities within the team. This experimentation was not too impactful in terms of goalkeeping as Durante showed a lot of confidence and skills in goal. But on the defensive aspect, the team struggled to remain compact at the back and conceded numerous dangerous opportunities from Austria.
