Tuesday, June 14, 2022, is a date England and Italy would like to forget in a hurry as they suffered one of the heaviest defeats in their football history and the history of the UEFA Nations League.
On the said date, Italy traveled to Germany for their fourth match in the 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League campaign. Unfortunately for the reigning European champions, they met with a fierce German side that did not hesitate to give them a beating to remember.
Germany scored the match opener as early as the 10th minute of the first half thanks to Joshua Kimmich’s strike.
Towards the end of the first half, Manchester City midfielder, Ilkay Gundogan doubled Germany’s lead from a spot-kick in injury time.
The second half resumed as the first half started with a 46th-minute strike from Thomas Muller that completely left Italy off-balance.
Afterward, it was Chelsea’s forward, Timo Werner that took the center stage by scoring two goals within two minutes (68th, and 69th minute of the game).
Italy didn’t go down without a fight, they attempted a fightback which only led to two late goals from Wilfried Gnonto in the 78th minute and Alessandro Bastoni in injury time. Unfortunately, the goals ended up as a consolation.
The defeat has pushed Italy, the reigning European Champions to the 3rd spot in Group A3 with five points in four games after recording one win, two draws, and a defeat.
While Germany remain second with 6 points in four games after a win and three draws so far in the UEFA Nations League campaign.
England did Italy a favor by allowing Hungary to humiliate them in UEFA Nations League
Just when English fans thought the Three Lions of England would use the Hungarian team to bounce back from their winless run in the 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League, the Hungarian team added to the woes of the fans.
Ahead of the game, no one imagined that Hungary would be a problem to a star-studded English side but the Hungarian team turned the Molineux, a Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, into their home ground.
Even though Hungary played in the presence of hostile home fans, they went ahead as early as the 16th minute thanks to a strike from Roland Sallai.
Afterward, England tried to restore their pride in front of their home fans but couldn’t do so in the first half. When the second half resumed, Hungary became fiercer than expected and grabbed a second goal in the 70th minute courtesy of Sallai again.
In the 80th minute, Zsolt Nagy made it impossible for England to dream of a comeback as he made it 3-0. At this point, the English fans became impatient with their team.
To crown it up, Daniel Gazdag scored the 4th goal for Hungary to spark thunderous boos from the English supporters as the game ended 4-0 in favor of the away team, which is England’s worst home defeat since 1928.
Boos as England leave the pitch pic.twitter.com/7cmCULyTYq
— James Robson (@jamesalanrobson) June 14, 2022
The humiliating defeat has pushed England to the bottom of the UEFA Nations League Group A3 with 2 points in four games after two draws, two defeats, and no win.
While Hungary surprisingly occupy the top with 7 points in four games after two wins, a draw, and a defeat despite being in the same group with three European heavyweights – Germany, Italy, and England.
Hungary boss Marco Rossi believes his side's 4-0 victory over England will guarantee him 'one minutes silence' at the countries national stadium when he dies. 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/fV7RKP0piO
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 14, 2022
As it stands, England has managed to score just a goal and conceded 6 goals in four games so far in the 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League. If things continue like this for the English side, they would relegate to League 2.
After the humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Hungary on June 14, England’s coach, Gareth Southgate said: “I could not put [Declan] Rice out there again, I could not put [Harry] Maguire out there again. Well, I could. But if they got a serious injury and missed the winter I would be kicking myself.
“In a difficult situation, you need experience around you to navigate that kind of game. That is the balance that we did not have tonight.
“The responsibility lies with me.”
🗣️ "Football is emotional."
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 15, 2022
More from Gareth Southgate after England lost 4-0 to Hungary last night 👇 pic.twitter.com/oT0unxoMib
