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A debut to remember. At the Stadio Alberto Picco in La Spezia, Silvio Baldini's U21 national team came from behind to win 2-1 against Montenegro on Matchday 1 of Group E, kicking off their qualifying campaign in style. The Azzurrini trailed their opponents 1-0 after a goal in the sixth minute from Partizan striker Andrej Kostić, before mounting a comeback in the second half thanks to a goal from Sassuolo midfielder Luca Lipani in the 52nd minute and a penalty won by Antonio Raimondo and converted by Espanyol winger Luca Koleosho in the 79th minute. The Azzurrini will play again on Tuesday 9th September (18:15 CEST) at the Stadion Petar Miloševski in Bitola, where they face North Macedonia, who lost 3-0 to Poland at the Stadion Józef Piłsudski in Krakow.

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BALDINI. After the match, with the emotion of the debut behind him, Silvio Baldini commented:  "Winning is what counts in football, but the journey to get there is also important. There are no easy matches, but I wasn’t worried about the result of the first half: you can lose, what matters is not to feel defeated, to put in the effort, and to finish without regrets. In the second half they did well to put things right: victories help you grow and give you self-confidence. Today we struggled, but we’ll take the positive result. We are Italy, and we have players with a lot of technical ability: we need to put them in the right conditions to improve, perform at their best, and win. That doesn’t mean suffering less, but being more effective and knowing how to read situations differently from how we approached this match.

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MATCH. Italy lined up in a 4-3-3 with Koleosho, Raimondo, and Fini in attack, while Montenegro responded with a 4-2-3-1. The visitors struck first after six minutes, when Kostić punished a mistake by Idrissi with a precise finish. Italy looked for a reaction – Koleosho went close from a corner – but Montenegro nearly doubled their lead through Đukanović and Knežević, forcing Mascardi and Idrissi into crucial interventions. The Azzurrini pressed for an equalizer for the remainder of the half, with Chiarodia heading straight at the keeper, but went into the break still trailing 1-0.

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SECOND HALF. Italy came out stronger and equalized in the 52nd minute: Fini set up Lipani, who fired into the top corner. Raimondo then came close to turning the game around twice, first with a left-footed shot that went just over, then with a close-range effort that was saved. Montenegro tried to respond, but Perišić's long range free kick went over the bar. Raimondo threatened again with a header before winning a penalty in the 78th minute, which Koleosho coolly converted to seal a 2-1 comeback win. After five minutes of added time, Baldini celebrated victory in his debut as Italy U21 coach.

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ITALY 2-1 MONTENEGRO

Italy (4-3-3): Mascardi; Palestra, Marianucci, Chiarodia, Idrissi (62' Moruzzi); Pisilli (80' Dagasso), Lipani ©, Ndour; Fini (62' Pafundi), Raimondo (80' Ekhator), Koleosho (86' Cherubini). Substitutes: Motta (GK), Mane, Berti, Venturino. Man.: Silvio Baldini.

Montenegro (4-2-3-1): Domazetović​​​​​​​; Vuković (83' Juković), Malentijević​​​​​​​, Dakić​​​​​​​, Perović M.; Vukanić​​​​​​​, Miranović; Knež​​​​​​​ević (52' Mrvaljević), Periš​​​​​​​ić​​​​​​, Đukanović © (83' Maraš)​​​​​​​; Kostić A. (57' Ć​​​​​​etković). Substitutes: Krijestarac (GK), Franeta, Vrač​​​​​​​ar, Carević​​​​​​​, Radusinović​​​​​​​. Man.: Perisic.

Referee: Sven Wolfensberger (SUI). Assistant referees: Marco Zürcher (SUI) and Claudio Dos Santos (SUI). Fourth Official: Anojen Kanagasingam (SUI).

Goalscorers: 6' Kostić A. (MNE), 52' Lipani (ITA), 79' pen. Koleosho (ITA).

Notes: Miranović (MNE) booked in the 50th minute, Ć​​​​​​​etković (MNE) in the 64th minute, Palestra (ITA) in the 60th minute, Raimondo (ITA) in the 67th minute, Mrvaljević (MNE) in the 71st minute, Juković (MNE) in the 90th minute +2 and Cherubini (ITA) in the 90th minute +5. Added time: 2’ in the first half, 5’ in the second half.

UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP ALBANIA-SERBIA 2007 | QUALIFYING

Group E

Matchday 1 (Friday 5th September)

18:00 CEST: Sweden 3-0 Armenia

18:00 CEST: Poland 3-0 North Macedonia

18:15 CEST: ITALY 2-1 Montenegro

Standings: Sweden 3, Poland 3, ITALY 3, Montenegro 0, North Macedonia 0, Armenia 0.

Matchday 2 (Tuesday 9th September)

15:00 CEST: Armenia vs. Poland

18:15 CEST: North Macedonia vs. ITALY

20:00 CEST: Montenegro vs. Sweden