22:41 Germany and Italy are still doing what they need to do in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. The two leaders did not make mistakes in the opening match and we were also able to add three points in the second match. Italy were too strong for Bulgaria in Group C, 0-2, and in Group J, Germany beat Romania 1-0.
Germany are the favorites in Group J and they actually climbed to that position last Wednesday with a slight 3-0 victory over Iceland. It is interesting that the main competitors of the Germans at the moment are Armenia, which won the first matches against Liechtenstein and Iceland. In short: If Joachim Loew’s team does what they need to do, they will easily qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
This time, however, there was no victory as big as the Germans’ victory over Iceland. This was partly due to the strong performance of Roman goalkeeper Florin Nita, who played for Sparta Prague as a club. With eight saves in total, the Romanians kept their feet several times. However, that didn’t help him much, because in the seventeenth minute he was hit once by Serge Gnabry. The Bayern striker managed to intervene after Kai Havertz’s assist.
It turned out to be the only goal of the game. Where Germany did not score, Manuel Neuer on the other hand did not do much at all. In the final stage it got dangerous for some time, but Nikolai Stancio didn’t get his attempt inside the posts. Germany scored a commercial victory, and maintained the top spot in Group J. The final match of this international period is expected on Tuesday, at home against its European European Championship rival North Macedonia.
Bulgaria 0-2 Italy
With the international match, Italy stands out as more than a dangerous outsider to the European Championship title next summer. Bulgaria also had no response to the successful formation of Roberto Mancini, who remained unbeaten for the twentieth game in a row. The last defeat? It dates back to October 2018, when Portugal were very strong 1-0 in the Nations League.
Italy’s World Cup qualifying campaign began in earnest against Bulgaria. After their 2–0 win over Northern Ireland on Thursday, Italy were the coach in Bulgaria on Sunday evening. Shortly before the end of the first half, Andrea Belotti opened the score from eleven meters. Substitute Manuel Locatelli was the one who shot his country with flowers 10 minutes before time was up. This put Italy at the top of Group C after two rounds with Switzerland.
