A double celebration. Not for one player, but for Italy’s two beach soccer national teams, both through to the semi-finals as group winners. After the Azzurre’s last-gasp victory over Spain, Del Duca’s side also finished top of their group, following wins over Moldova, Germany and, this evening, a 7-2 success against Denmark. Viareggio can therefore celebrate two Italian semi-finalists: tomorrow at 16:45 the women’s team will face Ukraine, before Sciacca and his teammates take on Switzerland at 18:00. The Swiss finished second behind Spain in Group B, which also produced the shock elimination of Portugal. The win over Denmark belonged above all to Marco Giordani, who scored six of Italy’s seven goals. After a 1-1 first period, he took complete control of the contest before the Azzurri pulled clear in the third and final period. With the score at 6-2, Viareggio-born Genovali added the finishing touch.

THE MATCH. Italy started with Casapieri in goal and Josep operating as playmaker, while Fazzini and Sciacca supported Giordani from the flanks.

It was Giordani who opened the scoring in the third minute. Fazzini delivered the ball into the middle and the Anzio-born golden boy rose spectacularly to score with an overhead kick, giving Madsen no chance. Italy almost doubled their lead in the sixth minute through Casapieri and Genovali, but an extraordinary ricochet somehow stayed out after the ball struck the inside of the post. Denmark responded immediately and drew level through Jensen, who finished an excellent team move at the far post. The Azzurri continued to play the better football and created a couple of good openings without being able to convert them, meaning the score remained 1-1 after the opening 12 minutes. The second period had barely begun when Giordani struck again straight from the restart, side-footing past Madsen to make it 2-1. The Italy forward was on fire and, one minute later, produced another spectacular overhead kick from an almost impossible angle, finding the top corner to extend the lead. Giordani was far from finished. In the tenth minute, he completed another trademark move, firing a 20-metre free kick into the top corner to end any realistic hopes of a Danish comeback. His show continued in the final period, with a fifth goal in the third minute and a sixth in the seventh, meaning he had scored every one of Italy’s goals up to that point. Denmark pulled one back late on through a Frandsen free kick, before Genovali produced a superb goal with ten seconds remaining to complete the 7-2 victory.

VIAREGGIO TAKES CENTRE STAGE. Viareggio is also preparing to host the Serie A Women’s Cup final, with the trophy that will be lifted on the pitch at the Stadio dei Pini ‘Torquato Bresciani’ set to be on display on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 at the ‘Beach Stadium Matteo Valenti’.

ITALY 7-2 DENMARK (1st period 1-1; 2nd period 3-0)

Italy: Casapieri, Josep Jr, Sciacca, Fazzini, Giordani. Subs: Genovali, Bertacca, Alla, Sannibale, Barbagallo, Andriani, Sassari, Reggio. Coach: Del Duca

Denmark: Madsen, Hansen, Wegeberg, De Fries, Damm. Subs: Levin, Jensen, Frandsen, Pilgaard, Dorph, Lucht. Coach: Jorgensen

Goals: 3’ 1st period Giordani (I), 6’ Jensen (D); 1’, 2’, 10’ 2nd period Giordani (I); 3’, 7’ 3rd period Giordani (I), 10’ Frandsen (D), 12’ Genovali (I)

Referees: Galan Cayado (Spain), Tashkov (Bulgaria), Gomes Soares (Portugal), Minder (Switzerland); Timekeeper: Dor (France)

Notes: Damm (D), Hansen (D), Lucht (D) booked

 

EBSL Superfinal

Group A: ITALY, Denmark, Germany, Moldova

Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belarus, Switzerland

 

Group A fixtures

Matchday 1, Tuesday 8 September

Denmark 4-6 Germany after penalties

Moldova 2-9 ITALY

Matchday 2, Wednesday 9 September

Denmark 8-4 Moldova

ITALY 9-3 Germany

Matchday 3, Friday 11 September

Germany 4-5 Moldova after extra time

ITALY 7-2 Denmark

Standings after Matchday 3

Italy 9, Denmark 3, Moldova 2, Germany 1

Semi-finals, Saturday 12 September

Portugal v Denmark, 15:30

Italy v Switzerland, 18:00

Finals, Sunday 13 September

Third-place play-off, 15:30

Final, 18:00