Credit: Twitter
The UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers have commence from Thursday, March 23 as defending champions Italy lost their opener against England 1-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples. Ahead of the match, Italian cops attacked England fans outside the stadium and even knocked down one fan unconscious as they attempt to enter the stadium for the qualifiers.
After losing the Euro 2020 final against gli Azzurri in 2021 , England took their revenge on Italy with a 1-2 victory in Naples on Thursday. While West Ham midfielder Declan Rice opened the scoring for England in the opening 15 minutes of the game, Harry Kane becomes the all-time top scorer for the Three Lions with his 44th minute penalty.
While England fans were trying to enter the stadium to support their team against the home side, the Italian police attacked the fans with batons and hand-shields. Some fans alleged that the cops had knocked an elderly man unconscious.
Watch the video here:
Ahead of the match an England fan was pictured with their national flag, which mentioned Diego Maradona's name with a message, 'Diego in a box' . The disrespect towards late Diego Maradona, who led Napoli to their last Serie A triumph in 1990, reportedly triggered the incident.
Declan Rice and Harry Kane, both found the back of the net and helped England to manage a two-goal lead over hosts Italy at the end of the half-time. Italy forward Mateo Retegui scored the first goal for his side in the starting 10 minutes of the first half after receiving a spectacular assist from Lorenzo Pellegrini. Although, England defender Luke Shaw was sent off with 10 minutes remaining into the game, Italy couldn't win or equalize the game.
In their next match, Italy will travel to the Ta' Qali National Stadium to face Malta while England will host Ukraine at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday in the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers.
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