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The Italy Women’s U19 team made the perfect start to their European qualifying Round 2 campaign with a 2–0 win over Ukraine in Borås. A quick second-half double from Caterina Venturelli and Eleonora Ferraresi secured the victory and put Italy top of Group 5, which also includes the Netherlands and hosts Sweden, who play each other at 18:00 CEST.
It’s a hugely important win for Nicola Matteucci’s team, as only the group winners will qualify for the final tournament, set to take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 27 June to 10 July. The three points came thanks to an excellent performance against a well-organised, defensive opponent from the very start.
Italy had to break down an unusual 5-4-1 setup from Ukraine early on, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. The game turned in the 39th minute when the Ukraine goalkeeper was sent off for a foul on Giulia Galli just outside the box, giving Italy the upper hand for the rest of the match. The breakthrough came in the 72nd minute, as Galli and Venturelli combined neatly for a clinical finish from Venturelli. Italy then created several chances, including a shot off the post for the Roma forward, before Ferraresi sealed the win in the 78th minute with a superb free-kick for 2-0. Italy return to action on Tuesday at 13:00 CEST at the Borås Arena against the Netherlands in a key match for the group.
“Credit to the girls, they were outstanding,” said Matteucci. “It wasn’t easy to break the deadlock, but they were patient, moved the ball well, and showed quality to find solutions. In the final third we maybe lacked a bit of sharpness, but I’m happy because we created chances through patterns we’ve worked on in training. We’ve been preparing this Round 2 for months, and I’m really proud to see performances like this. The credit goes to the players and staff. This is a very tough group, but we need to enjoy the journey and take it game by game. The Netherlands will be a big test, and a great opportunity to bring out our best.”
ITALY 2-0 UKRAINE (0-0 at HT)
ITALY: Mazzocchi; Bonanomi, Venturelli, Lombardi (77’ Consolini), Tosello (58’ Bertola); Vitale (46’ Appiah), Langella (58’ Giudici), Cherubini, Bedini (67’ Ferraresi); Ventriglia, Galli. Subs: Bucci, Bertora, Romanelli, Zanoni. Coach: Matteucci
UKRAINE: Soloviova; Yaremchuk (81’ Myhal), Savkina, Savka, Balatska (46’ Marteseniuk), Kuptsova; Konovalova (86’ Kharchenko), Bielova, Holovanchuk, Ihnatenko; Tkachuk. Subs: Artemenko, Boreiko, Zhyhadlo, Ivanchenko. Coach: Bortnik
Referee: Georgieva (BUL). Assistants: Vasileva (BUL) e Damtew (SVE). Fourth Official: Karman (SVE)
Goals: 72’ Venturelli (I), 78’ Ferraresi (I)
Note: Soloviova sent off; Giudici, Savkina and Martseniuk booked.
Added time: 3’, 3’
UEFA Women's Under 19-Championship | Round 2
Group A5: ITALY, The Netherland, Sweden, Ukraine
Schedule (CEST)
Matchday 1 (Saturday, 11 April)
13:00 ITALY 2-0 Ukraine
18:00 The Netherlands vs. Sweden (Boras)
Standings: Italy 3pts, Uktraine, *Netherlands and *Sweden
*one game in hand
Matchday 2 (Tuesday, 14 April)
13:00 ITALY vs Netherlands (Boras)
18:00 Sweden vs Ukraine (Boras)
Matchday 3 (Friday, 17 April)
18:00 Sweden vs. ITALY (Boras)
18:00 Ukraine vs. Netherlands (Goteborg)