Luciano Spalletti: "Cristante puts his foot near Mudric's foot, it's close but it doesn't touch"

Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti commented on the outcome of the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Ukraine, as well as the key episode of the match, when the head referee did not award a penalty for a foul on Mykhailo Mudryk.

"Considering what happened in the past with qualifying for other tournaments, we definitely should have qualified. It's not easy to play football when you feel that kind of pressure. We needed this result to get back into the important matches. Without qualifying for the Euros, it would have been difficult to really start the process of growing as a team.

Now the real work starts, now I have the opportunity to really get started. When I accepted the offer to manage the national team, I knew that the task of qualifying was a must.

The moment with the unawarded penalty? Cristante puts his foot near Mudryk's leg, it's close, but it doesn't touch. Mudric has already passed to this moment and is trying to find contact," Spalletti said in a commentary for Football Italia.