Under 19 European Championships, England-Italy 2-1: Azzurri eliminated

No way. Not even the boys born in 2003, the year in which Italy won the last European Under 19, have not managed to break the curse. In the final, on Friday, there will be England, who in Senec beat the azzurrini 2-1 in comeback, who are returning to Italy anyway with the certainty of playing the Under 20 World Cup in Indonesia in a year’s time. Unlike what happened on Friday against France, England were not superior to Italy, so much so that the goals that eliminated Carmine Nunziata’s team both came from a corner kick, after Miretti’s initial advantage on a penalty. . However, he took advantage of the changes, which on balance were decisive.

FIRST HALF

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Nunziata re-proposed all the owners who had rested in the match against France: the only novelty compared to the team that had beaten Slovakia in the second challenge of the group (the decisive one for access to the semifinal), Turicchia on the right in defense in place of the teammate team in Juventus Mulazzi, disqualified against the French. Italy started strong: after 2 ‘, Nasti stole the ball from goalkeeper Cox, with Iroegbunam forced to foul Ambrosino on the edge of the area. Miretti, on a free kick, kicked at the intersection with the English number 1 who redeemed himself from the blackout a little earlier. The blue goalkeeper, Desplanches, was also good on Ramsey’s close left, a few seconds before another intervention by Cox on Ambrosino: on the continuation of the action, Norton-Cuffy overwhelmed Miretti in the area. Sacrosanct penalty kick, converted by the number 10. After an attempt from outside of Faticanti, England began to rise with shots. Foster swapped the wides of 3-4-3, with Ramsey on the right and Devine on the left. Desplanches took the yellow card in the 36th minute for a foul on Devine himself, but was reactive shortly after on Vale’s free-kick. The English coach then returned to the original layout of the external players, and Giovane in closing time was very good at sacrificing himself on Devine’s conclusion again.

SHOOTING

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After 11 minutes of the second half, Foster decided to revolutionize England; out Norton-Cuffy, Iroegbunam and Ramsey, in Oyegoke, Scott and Bynoe-Gittens. A few seconds, and Scott himself jumped better than Ghilardi on Devine’s corner and equalized the game, which at that moment was over. He also changed Nunziata, removing first Turicchia and Ambrosino to insert Mulazzi and Volpato, then Fabbian and Giovane (not at best) to insert Baldanzi and Fontanarosa. Desplanches denied Bynoe-Gittens the goal with a long save; on the other hand, Cox had blocked Baldanzi’s way. And so we arrived at the episode that decided the game: another corner from the right, this time kicked by Vale, and Casadei’s deviation that lengthened the trajectory putting Desplanches out of action. Quansah was quicker than Coppola and headed the ball that decided the match. In the final, Italy had a couple of chances to equalize, just as the English could have made three of a kind. But the result hasn’t changed anymore, and for the Under 19s it was a terrible joke.