Rookie to help Italy win in Euro 2024 qualifying

Retegui opened the scoring for Italy in the 15th minute. The 1.86-meter-tall striker headed home from six yards, after Sandro Tonali's corner.

Retegui was born in Argentina but has a grandfather from Italy. He scored the second goal in two matches for the celestial army. In the opening match of the qualifying round losing to England 1-2 on March 23, the 23-year-old striker also scored a goal.

Malta is one of the smallest teams in Europe. In the last eight meetings, they also lost to Italy. And even when playing at Ta' Qali National's home ground yesterday, they could not resist the pressure from Italy.

12 minutes after the first goal, they let the defending Euro champion double the gap. From Emerson Palmieri's cross into the penalty area, the ball hit Tonali and a Maltese player before Matteo Pessina cushioned the close. This is the first player from Monza club to score for Italy.

Italy could have won more, considering the number of missed opportunities. In the rest of the time, Retegui twice shot out. Gianluca Scamacca also missed two chances when he shot one into the hand of goalkeeper Henry Bonello and another into the air.

The home team only once endangered the Italian goal. However, Alexander Satariano's volley failed to beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's reflex on the goal line.

The victory over the 167th FIFA team helped Italy win the first three points in the Euro 2024 qualifying round. The Celestial Army ranked second in Group C with three points, three points behind England.

Group C has North Macedonia and Ukraine. North Macedonia is the team that defeated Italy 1-0 in the semi-finals of the play-off round to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The top two teams of the Euro 2024 qualifying group will win tickets to the final round in Germany next year.