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Italy Outplays and Outcoaches Belgium in Euro 2016 Opener
Published: June 14, 2016
The Belgians came into the game as one of the hot favorites in the tournament. They spent a good portion of 2016 at the top of the FIFA world rankings and came to the tournament ranked No. 2—the highest ranking of any team in the finals.
The Azzurri arrived at the sparkling new Stade de Lyon the clear underdogs, but they had a nasty surprise in store for the Belgians. Their elite, Juventus-based defense throttled the Red Devils' high-octane attack before hitting them with long passes and strong counterattacks that ripped apart Belgium's injury-depleted back line.
The result was a convincing 2-0 victory—their first in a Euro opener since 2000—that puts them in excellent position to advance and, if things go right over the next two weeks, to potentially make a deep run in the tournament.
The credit for this win has to go to Italy manager Antonio Conte. The former Juventus boss has been heavily criticized in the run-up to the tournament for his squad selection and for falling back on the 3-5-2 that he was wedded to at Juve.
However, Conte's vision—that of a team that may not be made up of the sparkliest parts but runs like a well-oiled machine—has proved itself, at least for now.
When these two teams met each other in November, Conte mostly bested his counterpart, Marc Wilmots, in terms of tactics. On Monday, he comprehensively outcoached him.
Conte was initially expected to use Stephan El Shaarawy as the left wing-back in the 3-5-2, but opted for Matteo Darmian instead. But it was the tactics, not the players, that ended up causing the Belgian defense problems.
Conte pushed both Darmian and right wing-back Antonio Candreva high and very wide, forcing Belgium's makeshift full-backs, Laur...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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