Sky Sports Italy deliver middling verdict on Sandro Tonali after Azzurri batter Estonia in World Cup qualifier
Italy made light work of their World Cup Qualifier against Estonia on Saturday evening, with Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali pulling the strings in midfield.
The 3-1 scoreline would suggest that the home side had some input into the game, but Estonia's goal came from the one shot they had on target of the two efforts they had all game.
Meanwhile, Italy managed nine shots on target from the 24 attempts they created.
This was in no small part down to Sandro Tonali, who was enjoying himself in the middle of the park for his nation yet again.
Sandro Tonali picked up a score of 6.5 by Sky Sports Italy
Sky Sports Italy gave Tonali a good review after the game, although their write-up doesn't seem to match their score of 6.5/10 in that it sounded a lot more positive than the mid score suggests.
"He is the driving force behind the Azzurri midfield: he covers miles from start to finish and tries to deliver balls into the opposition's box. He lacks the killer pass, but with a wall of opponents in front of him, he has no choice but to play down the wings. In a scramble, he strikes the ball well on the volley but hits the goalkeeper."
Their issues with Tonali's performance seem to be more to do with the players around him than anything he could directly affect.
It's even more strange when you consider that Football Italia gave Tonali 8.5/10 saying:
"Italy had a few strong performers tonight but the Newcastle United man was in a league of his own today."
Sandro Tonali says Italy are improving
Speaking after the game to Sky Italy, Tonali admitted that his Italy team aren't quite there yet, but are improving with every game.
“We’ve all improved many things, that’s for sure. We are not perfect in anything, but we have improved things and will keep doing so.
“It’s therefore right to look at the past and where we were a few months ago, but we must also believe more in ourselves, show more courage and remember we can keep doing better.
“We’re the ones representing Italy on the pitch, so we are the first who should show confidence in ourselves.”
In fairness, Tonali could just as easily have been talking about Newcastle here as they look to build on back-to-back wins after an iffy start to the season.
