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The story
Italy and France faced off at San Siro in Matchday 5 of UEFA Nations League A, Group 1. France’s Olise opened the scoring, but Italy fought back with three goals to take over the top of the group. On the 5ch Geisokuho+ (entertainment/sports news board) thread, many posters credited France’s absence of Mbappé and Dembélé and the rise of new striker Pio Esposito, while others were skeptical about calling it a “full revival” given Italy’s long slump — the discussion even spiraled into comparing all-time Italy and France squad lineups.
Matchday 5 of UEFA Nations League (UNL) League A Group 1 took place on the 12th, with the Italy and France national teams facing off.
Second-place Italy hosted group leaders France at San Siro. In the rain, France pushed Italy back from the start with a high defensive line. Italy, for its part, won the ball back in its own half and calmly looked for scoring chances while building through passes.
France struck first. In the 10th minute, Michael Olise intercepted a pass from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, cut into the box, and buried a right-footed shot into the net.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Grandpa, that was 24 years ago now
Sat 11/14 3:00 AM – U21 vs Spain, ABEMA (free)
Sat 11/14 7:15 PM – vs Brazil, TV Asahi
Tue 11/17 10:10 PM – vs Paraguay, NTV
Wed 11/18 1:00 AM – U21 vs Egypt, ABEMA (free)
Pio's finally hitting his stride.
First proper out-and-out striker they've had in a while.
**Gianluigi Buffon vs Fabien Barthez**
Buffon
**Gianluca Zambrotta vs Lilian Thuram**
Thuram
**Alessandro Nesta vs Marcel Desailly**
Nesta
**Fabio Cannavaro vs Laurent Blanc**
Cannavaro
**Paolo Maldini vs Patrice Evra**
Maldini
**Andrea Pirlo vs Patrick Vieira**
Pirlo
**Gennaro Gattuso vs N'Golo Kanté**
Kanté
**Roberto Baggio vs Michel Platini**
Platini
**Francesco Totti vs Zinedine Zidane**
Zidane
**Alessandro Del Piero vs Thierry Henry**
Del Piero
**Christian Vieri vs Kylian Mbappé**
Mbappé
Feels like he could've leaned more pro-Italy, but he seems to be judging it pretty fairly — though Del Piero vs Henry is a tough call.
> **Roberto Baggio vs Michel Platini**
That one's gonna come down to personal taste.
Nigeria's starting to feel the same way
he can hold the ball up too, he's right on the verge of breaking out.
Even Ukraine's national team is still active, so…
So you're saying they should be out rioting instead?
That's harsh, man.
Dembélé was out too.
Just a throwaway match, basically.
Calling Barcola 'slacking off' lol… if Kuhara (likely Kvaratskhelia) hadn't moved over from Napoli that season, Barcola would've been Ligue 1's top scorer, you know?
Finally, someone who could become heir to the Baggio–Del Piero–Totti lineage has shown up.
So the Azzurri's classic No.10 fantasista lineage continues? Yay… but what about Cassano?
Gifu and Sagamihara were strong, yeah
There's also a forward being pushed to choose between Italy and Germany.
He's played for Germany at every youth level, but apparently his father is Italian.
Seriously (chincha — Korean-derived net slang for "really?")? There's another young gem besides the 'Inacio' I just found out about? These Azzurri are scary…
If they had real strength, they wouldn't have missed the World Cup three tournaments running.
Maybe Tresoldi from Club Brugge?… Sounds like Klopp and Robemann are in a bidding war of love calls lol
This might actually be a full revival. Would love to see them test themselves against Brazil or Argentina next.
Forget tactics or team cohesion — Switzerland just flat-out had more good players, that's why Italy got crushed.
But they won the Euros the time before that,
so they're still a country that knows how to win big tournaments — better than England in that sense.
so football's probably not even a priority for them anymore.
I think the day their national sport shifts from football to baseball is coming soon.
What kind of bait is this
Even if football goes under, they've still got volleyball and basketball,
and they're already way behind baseball and rugby anyway.
Honestly forgot all about Chiesa since 'Welcome to Anfield' lol
it's basically like Korea beating a Japan missing Mitoma and Ueda and then celebrating, lol
You really love bringing up Korea, huh
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
The Nations League doesn’t directly determine World Cup qualification, but it does affect seeding and rankings for the following year’s tournaments. Italy has missed the World Cup finals twice before, in 2018 and 2022, so the thread was split between posters calling this win a “full revival” and those staying skeptical. Since France also fielded a lineup without Mbappé and Dembélé, how much weight to give the result became a point of debate. While many posters praised the rise of new striker Pio Esposito, plenty of others urged caution, pointing out the weakness of France’s lineup — reflecting a complexity that can’t be reduced to a simple “generational changeover” narrative.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Italy Blows Past France 3-Goals to Take Top Spot! Nations League.”
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