Roberto Mancini’s side finished third in the Nations League after beating the Netherlands 3-2 on home soil in the minor final.

Netherlands – Italy 2-3, in the minor final of the League of Nations 2023

Knocked out by Spain in the semi-finals, Italy opened the scoring after just six minutes when Federico Dimarco finished off a superb attacking move from an outside corner.

The good play of the Italians paid off and in the 20th minute Davide Frattesi doubled the advantage with a shot from inside the penalty area, a success confirmed by VAR analysis.

However, Ronald Koeman made three substitutions at half-time and the Netherlands reduced the deficit in the 68th minute through Bergwein.

But five minutes later, Chiesa again restored the two-goal gap.

The Italians were trembling at the end, first after Weghorst’s goal was disallowed for offside in the 82nd minute, then Wijnaldum managed to reduce the deficit again.

Despite 11 minutes of overtime, the Netherlands were unable to equalize and Italy prevailed to finish on the podium in this year’s edition of the competition.

The Nations League final will take place on Sunday at 21:45 and will be broadcast on the HotNews.ro LiveBlog.