Italian
A national team made up of fifteen debutants wins 1-0 in Luxembourg thanks to a goal from Pio Esposito, his fourth goal with the Azzurri
LUXEMBOURG – With the disaster of Zenica still fresh in their minds and the consequent failure to qualify for the third World Cup in a row, the men’s national football team has rightly started anew with the youth. Only three players remain from that match (along with Palestra on the bench): Captain Donnarumma, Pisilli, and Pio Esposito. And it is precisely thanks to the Inter striker that the new blue era begins with a victory.
A challenge won by the interim coach Silvio Baldini, proving that in Italy there is talent and the foundations for a new National Team to start over from. Certainly, the emotion was high considering that there were as many as fifteen debutants, eight of whom played in the first half. Opposing us was Luxembourg, certainly not a giant, but as our history teaches us (see Northern Ireland, Korea, Sweden, Macedonia, and Bosnia), it is precisely with the so-called “small” teams that the Italian National Team struggles the most.
A match nonetheless dominated from the first to the last minute, despite the average age of the starting eleven being 21 years and 354 days. The one who resolved it was the man of the match, Pio Esposito, who despite being born in 2005 has scored his fourth goal for the national team in eight appearances. Impressive numbers that bring him closer to the Golden Boy of Italian football, Gianni Rivera, who is stuck at 5 goals as the highest number scored before turning 21, with Giuseppe Meazza far behind at 11.
Now the National team will play in Crete on Sunday against Greece. An additional opportunity to give experience to the young players and demonstrate that the path taken by Baldini is the right one. From the end of June, it will be the task of the new coach (probably one of Conte or Mancini, both of whom have already been on the Azzurri bench) to decide how to shape the new Italy.
Certainly, the road will not be easy, but we cannot afford to waste any more time. Sixteen years without a World Cup is already far too long.
The statements
These are the words of the interim coach Baldini at the end of the match: “I am very satisfied. I knew that these guys have values and that we would win, even though there were some pitfalls since many of them were making their debut. More than emotion, I feel the concern of not being helpful to these guys because when you speak, you have to say what they need.”
The MVP of the day Pio Esposito commented: “I am happy to have helped the team secure this result, we really wanted it. Even though it was a friendly match, we approached it with the utmost commitment. It’s true that we are young, but we are capable players and we need to prove it game after game. I debuted a few months ago and seeing so many of my teammates excited for their debut today was wonderful.”
The scorecard
LUXEMBOURG-ITALY 0-1 (0-0 first half)
LUXEMBOURG (4-5-1): Moris; Jans, Korac, Carlson, Micheal Pinto (from 21’st Mahmutovic) V. Thill (from 32’st S. Thill), Martins, Olesen (from 42’st Goncalves), Moreira (from 42’st D.Duarte), Bohnert (from 21’st Kadamani); Sinani (from 42’st Curci). Pereira, Fox, Selimovic, Muratovic, Veiga, E. Duarte. Coach: Strasser.
ITALY (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Favasuli (from 21’st Fortini), Comuzzo (from 31’st Mane), Chiarodia, Bartesaghi (from 44’st Ahanor); Pisilli, Lipani (from 31’st Dagasso), Ndour; Cherubini (from 21’st Fini), Esposito (from 31’st Camarda), Koleosho (from 44’st Inacio). Sub: Palmisani, Daffara, Palestra, Reggiani, Faticanti, Berti, Ekhator Coach: Baldini.
Referee: Kooij (Netherlands); Assistants: Fikkert and Kücükerbir (Netherlands); Fourth official: Van Der Laan (Netherlands); VAR: Brisard (France); AVAR: Delajod (France).
Marker: 3’st Esposito (I).
Note: warned Lipani (I), Carlson (L).
Photo Credits: Figc.it
