Italy qualify for Euro 2016 finals

Darmian notched his first goal for the national team today after he intercepted a rather errant pass expertly and slotted home past the Azerbaijani keeper from outside the box.

Italy retained top spot in Euro 2016 qualifying Group H after a 3-1 away win over Azerbaijan on Saturday which secured their qualification for the finals. Badavi Guseinov was shown a straight red card late in the game as Azerbaijan ended with 10 men.

Italy remain unbeaten in 48 World Cup or Euro qualification matches – a statistic they will be hoping to stretch to 50 against Azerbaijan and then Norway on Tuesday.

Norway beat Malta 2-0 to go five points clear in second place, with third-placed Croatia facing Bulgaria later on Saturday.

Subs not used: Zaza, Soriano, Bonaventura, Sirigu, Padelli, Barzagli, Bertolacci, Quagliarella.

Italy, without injured strikers Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi, played with a 4-4-2 formation with coach Antonio Conte selecting Eder alongside El Shaarawy in attack. The Italians have the breakthrough on 10 minutes as Eder collects a defence splitting pass from Verratti and slides the ball beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.

The island nation appeared to be on course for an easy win following first-half goals from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Gylfi Sigurdsson, but Latvia battled back after the break to rescue a draw with Aleksandrs Cauna and Valerijs Sabala on target.

Azerbaijan snatched a surprise equaliser when Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci failed to clear, so Dmitri Nazarov pounced to drill the loose ball into the bottom corner from just inside the area.

However, after El Shaarawy had twice gone close to restoring Italy’s lead, the Monaco man tapped into an open net following Candreva’s pass to give the visitors a half-time advantage.

Italy had required a win from either of their final two qualifiers to qualify for next summer’s showpiece in France.

The hosts’ slim hopes of a comeback were dashed when Huseynov was dismissed for a last-man challenge on substitute Sebastian Giovinco, who hit the bar with the free-kick.