Under 17 European Championships: Serbia-Italy 2-0, Azzurrini close to elimination

Two defeats in as many games: Bernardo Corradi’s Italy’s adventure at the U17 European Championship has already gone badly, also overtaken by Serbia (2-0) after the defeat against Spain. At the outset however, it must be said, better things had been seen which boded well. In the second outing there was instead an objective step backwards, which complicates the qualifying projects. Now the classification of group B sees Spain with full points after two days, Slovenia and Serbia with 3 points and Italy with zero points. Wednesday, to hit the quarter-finals at the last gasp, a complex joint will be needed: the Azzurrini will have to beat Slovenia with at least three goals difference and hope that Spain overcomes Serbia.

in suffering

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In the graceful stadium in Budapest named after Nandor Hidegkuti, center forward of the great Hungary of the Fifties, Corradi confirms the formation of his debut (4-3-1-2) but changes five elevenths: inside Vezzosi and Pagnucco behind (for Sadotti and Cocchi), Mendicino and De Pieri between the midfield and the trocar, Rao forward to team up with Ragnoli Galli. It is precisely the Atalanta striker, who scored against Spain, who gets noticed with a couple of initiatives in the first 20′. However, Italy immediately gives the idea of ​​paying for the gap in physicality with the Serbs, fails to exploit the numerical superiority in the middle of the field (on the other side there is a 3-4-2-1) and suffers in lane duels. The usual Martinelli shows off a couple of saves, but he can’t do anything when – by force – the balance is broken. The action for the advantage started in the 39th minute on the left side, where Cvetkovic vigorously countered Mendicino and triggered the chain: Popovic hit the back, sent Bassino empty with a dry dribble and set up for the comfortable goal by Maksimovic, playmaker for Red Star. At half-time we arrive with a result on which, honestly, there is little to complain about.

reaction

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Corradi perceives the difficulties and decides to change at the start of the second half: Mannini enters from midfield in place of Mendicino, Liberali and Ravaglioli bring freshness up front (in place of Rao and Ragnoli Galli). The spirit of the Azzurrini seems more proactive and translates into a couple of attempts by Mannini himself (immediately lively) and Romano, but – precisely in Italy’s best moment – ​​a vertical gust leads to the doubling: it is still Popovic who breaks through and enter the area with another pace compared to Vezzosi, assist (second of his game) set up for Cvetkovic who thus finds the second goal of his European Championship. In the middle of the second half, there are also a couple of dubious episodes in the Serbian area: first a suspicious touch of the hand, then a contact between Milosavijevic and Ravaglioli which is hindered with his back to goal (no fault, according to the Swedish referee Ladeback). But this is clearly not where the game turns. The national team led on the bench by Aleksandar Lukovic, a former defender of Ascoli and Udinese (between 2006 and 2010, he was also Corradi’s teammate in Friuli), has the physical and mental energy to remain in lucid control of the double advantage. Last blue notification with Romano, who in the long recovery fails the opportunity to shorten. And a goal, even after a by now inevitable defeat, would have been useful for any goal difference calculations.