Bergamo (Italy) (AFP)

The Netherlands have regained some of the momentum that seemed to have flown with their former coach Ronald Koeman to jostle Italy (1-1), Wednesday in Bergamo during the 4th day of the League of Nations.

La Nazionale, who pushed in vain at the end of the match, was particularly betrayed by the lack of confidence in the selection of his center-forward Ciro Immobile, who missed two decisive face-to-face meetings that weigh heavily at the final whistle .

With this third draw in four Nations League matches, the Azzurri are marking time, after a brilliant qualifying phase for Euro-2021 (10 wins in 10 matches), even if they continue with a 19th consecutive game without defeat .

With 6 points, Italy leaves first place in the group to Poland (7 pts), which beat Bosnia-Herzegovina (3-0).

It would therefore be a good idea to beat the Poles at home on November 15.

If they are only 3rd in the group, the Netherlands will have at least reassured their new coach Frank de Boer, in charge of restoring energy to the Oranje, orphans of Ronald Koeman.

Appointed at the end of September after Koeman's departure from FC Barcelona, ​​de Boer had a complicated start with a defeat in a friendly match against Mexico (1-0) a week ago and the draw against Bosnia (0-0 ) in the League of Nations on Sunday.

He will still have to wait for a victory but his players were much less spectators than in the first leg (Italian victory 1-0).

Compact and outgoing quickly, they were on a par with Italy for an hour.

- Italian attack in progress -

A medium defensive alignment of the Dutch defense was certainly punished by the opening of the Italian scoring: Barella offered a chiseled ball to Lorenzo Pellegrini who did not miss the offering alone in front of the goalkeeper (16th).

But the Dutch reacted well by equalizing quickly by Van de Beek, who did it twice to conclude a nice movement of the oranje (25th).

And the Italian defense, jostled, was not sorry to see Luuk de Jong miss a close header (36 ') then Donnarumma deflect a shot from Depay (55') for a corner.

The Italians, who had experienced a start before the break, had to wait for the hour of play to resume the match on their own, thanks in particular to the entry of Parisian Kean, but their many centers never found takers.

If he found a medium that works, even if Verratti was a little nervous on Wednesday and Jorginho not always fair, Italian coach Roberto Mancini has not made much progress in his big attacking project.

After Caputo against Moldova (6-0) in a friendly and then Belotti in Poland (0-0) on Sunday, Immobile missed a great opportunity to settle down with his two missed opportunities.

This match in Bergamo was also an opportunity for Italian football to pay tribute to the city hard hit by the new coronavirus.

Failing to be able to open the doors wide - in Italy the ceiling remains fixed at 1,000 spectators maximum for sporting events, the mayors of the 243 municipalities of the province of Bergamo and a delegation representing the two main hospitals of the city were invited, John XXIII and Humanitas.

An audience who applauded his Nazionale for a long time after the match because, for them, the result was probably not the main thing.

© 2020 AFP