Italy vs Ecuador prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2024-03-23 20:00.
[p]There was none of the kind of magic that Inter Miami fans have gotten used to from the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez when Italy beat Venezuela 2-1 on Thursday evening at Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium, but regardless, the job was done. The Azzurri’s second friendly of this March window is likely to be more difficult when they move to New Jersey to take on Ecuador for the first time in nearly two decades.[/p]
[p]With June’s European Championships nearing ever closer, reigning champions Italy have just three friendlies pencilled in before their tournament opener against Albania. An unbeaten record (W5, D2) as pre-match favourites since the start of 2023 confirms that coach Luciano Spalletti and his squad are taking every game seriously, underlined further by Spalletti’s public demands for more “strength and physical impact against Ecuador”.[/p]
[p]Ecuador are on the road to the 2024 Copa América in the United States and are gaining some intimate familiarity with playing in the country, having now played no fewer than six friendlies in the USA since 2022 following their 2-0 win over Guatemala at this very venue during the week. They now have an impressive seven wins from 11 games since the start of in 2023 (D2, L2), losing only away to both Argentina and Australia.[/p]
[p]Their manager Félix Sánchez could hardly find fault with a squad that included three debutants among some other inexperienced internationals and has identified this particular match as one the team must “take advantage of” as an important learning opportunity ahead of the Copa América. As far as causing an upset goes, they last won as an underdog back in 2021 (2-0 away to Chile), but can be inspired by more recent draws against Venezuela, Mexico, Japan and the Netherlands. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Spalletti singled out dual goalscorer Mateo Retegui’s performance during the week as he notched up his fourth professional goal scoring appearance of 2024. After he doubled their lead off the bench, Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata has scored in six of his last 12 games for club or country.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Ecuador scored exactly one goal in four of their last five losses.[/p]