El Shaarawy ends drought as Italy qualifies for Euro 2016

Antonio Conte’s side are now two points above second-placed Norway, whom they will face in their final Group H qualifier next week, so if they fail to get a victory over Azerbaijan, they still have a chance to top the group in their closing fixture.

But the full-back is obviously a little more adventurous for Italy.

Italy have dropped points in their last two away qualifiers as they could only draw 2-2 with Bulgaria and later recorded a 1-1 draw with Italy. “We gradually began using a 4-2-4, a system that I used to win the league (Serie B) with Bari and Siena”, said the 46-year-old.

The 25-year-old netted his first ever global goal during his 15th appearance for Italy, scoring from outside the box with a good strike – although the Azerbaijani goalkeeper was wrongfooted and would likely have saved it if not.

And Manchester United fullback Matteo Darmian sealed the result with his first national team goal. Last year, Cesare Prandelli’s Italy side failed to get past the first round of the World Cup for the second successive time.

Back Italy to win on their travels this Saturday.

Minutes later, Eder turned provider for Graziano Pelle, who shot on target and had Agayev tip his effort over the bar.

Eder was readying himself to celebrate, only for Azerbaijan captain Rashad Sadygov to rush back and clear the ball off the goalline.

Already-eliminated Azerbaijan equalised 20 minutes later when mistakes by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci allowed Dmitri Nazarov to score.

Italy restored their lead just before the halftime break when Antonio Candreva un-selfishly teed up El Sharaawy for the easiest of tap-ins.

The son of an Egyptian father and an Italian mother, the 22-year-old El Shaarawy has been hailed as one of Italy’s best young players for years but he struggled with injuries and confidence in recent seasons. His name has been recently linked with the Roma bench, but it is to take for granted that his only aim for the near future is winning EURO 2016. The squad is becoming more and more aware of its potential and that can bring us great things.

Badavi Guseinov was shown a straight red card late in the game as Azerbaijan ended with 10 men.