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The Italy Under-19s made a winning start to the friendly tournament in Croatia, showing real character to beat France 2-1 in Kotoriba. The victory puts the Azzurrini provisionally top of the standings in the competition, which runs until 5 October.
Italy took the lead in the 23rd minute through Parma forward Simone Lontani, but were reduced to ten men on the hour when Christian Fogliaro was sent off. The Monza player, already on a yellow card, picked up a second booking and left his team a man down. France made their numerical advantage count five minutes later, drawing level from the penalty spot through Paris Saint-Germain winger Adam Ayari.
Despite being a man down, the Azzurrini refused to give in and struck the decisive blow late on. In the 88th minute, Inter defender Leonardo Noah Bovio scored the winner to seal a valuable opening victory for Massimiliano Favo’s side.
“We played at a very high level for the first half-hour,” said the Italy coach. “We played some good football and pressed very high up the pitch. After that, having put so much into the opening stages, we had to manage our energy because it was impossible to maintain that intensity for the whole game against a side of France’s quality.
“When we went down to ten men, we had to change our shape and switch to a 4-4-1. Paradoxically, that helped us start getting out again, and we found the winning goal late on from a free-kick situation.”
The Azzurrini will be back in action on Monday 28 September (15:30 CEST) at the Gradski stadion in Ludbreg, where they will face Türkiye, who begin their campaign against Italy.
“This tournament is mainly about assessing the new players,” explained Favo. “We want to build on the work we’ve done with so many of our players, who have developed and are now involved with the older age groups. That makes me very proud.
“Today’s game took a lot out of us physically, so for the next match I’ll look to pick the players who are in the best condition, while also trying to give all 24 players in the squad an opportunity.”
Friendly tournament
Single group: Croatia, France, ITALY, Türkiye
Friday 25 September
France 1-2 ITALY
Standings: ITALY 3, Croatia 0, Türkiye 0, France 0.
Monday 28 September
12:45: Croatia vs. France, Stadion Hrašćica, Dunjkovec
15:30: Türkiye vs. ITALY, Gradski stadion, Ludbreg
Thursday 1 October
12:45: France vs. Türkiye, Gradski stadion, Ludbreg
15:30: Croatia vs. ITALY, Stadion Hrašćica, Dunjkovec
Sunday 4 October
12:00: Croatia vs. Türkiye, Stadion Hrašćica, Dunjkovec