Following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Chile, the Italy Under-18 national team came from behind to beat Denmark 3-1 in Samobor in the second of four friendly matches scheduled in Croatia. The Azzurrini fell behind in the fifth minute when Copenhagen forward Elvin Mehičić found the net, before turning the game around with goals from Hellas Verona striker Tommaso Casagrande in the 30th minute, Atalanta forward Diego Perillo in the 49th and Inter defender Andrea Donato in the 78th. “We didn’t get into the game straight away in the opening minutes,” Head Coach Daniele Franceschini explained. “That’s why we conceded from the first chance we gave them. From that point on, however, the players put in a very good performance, dominating the game for 60 to 70 minutes. We could have scored a few more goals in the first half, which we finished 1-1, given the number of chances we created, but I have nothing to criticise when it comes to their attitude and mentality.”

Italy will return to action on Friday 2 October at 12:30 CEST in Nedelišće, where they will face Saudi Arabia. “We’re in a good place, because we have a solid foundation to build on,” Franceschini added. “We just need to keep improving and expand the pool of players who can contribute. Some players will return to their clubs today (Albini, Casagrande, Corigliano, Diallo, Donato, Giammattei, Landi, Olivieri, Perillo, Rigo and Sonzogni, ed.), while others will join us (Ballarin, Covelli, Dattilo, Evangelista, Fabbri, Gaffurini, Galliera, Matarrese, Orlandi, Strata and Tigano, ed.). The next two matches will be an opportunity to do exactly what I mentioned earlier and assess the players ahead of the World Cup (scheduled to take place in Qatar from November 19th to December 13th, ed.).”

SQUAD LIST

Goalkeepers: Lorenzo Costoli (Genoa), Carlo Galliera (Inter)*, Mattia Sonzogni (Atalanta)**;

Defence: Matteo Albini (Como)*, Giampaolo Bonifazi (Roma), Cristian Covelli (Empoli)**, Lorenzo Dattilo (Roma)**, Jacopo Del Fabro (Juventus), Djibril Diallo (Parma)*, Andrea Donato (Inter)*, Edoardo Evangelista (Inter)**, Davide Gaffurini (Torino)**, Lorenzo Puricelli (Inter), Davide Rigo (Juventus)*, Giacomo Strata (Roma)**, Ludovico Varali (Parma);

Midfielders: Francesco Ballarin (Roma)**, Edoardo Biondini (Empoli), Riccardo Cassano (Como), Tito Maria Fabbri (Modena)**, Francesco Gasparello (Atalanta), Gioele Giammattei (Roma)*, Gianluca Tommaso Okon-Engstler (Club Brugge), Francesco Olivieri (Atalanta)*,

Forwards: Tommaso Casagrande (Hellas Verona)*, Thomas Corigliano (Juventus)*, Federico Croci (Fiorentina), Marcello Fugazzola (Atalanta), Jacopo Landi (Lazio)*, Thomas Matarrese (Inter)**, Alan Orlandi (Empoli)**, Diego Perillo (Atalanta)*, Mateo Santa Maria (Juventus)***, Achille Tigano (Como)**.

*Available from September 21st to 29th.
**Available from September 29th to October 5th.
***Removed from the squad list on September 21st.

Staff – Head Coach: Daniele Franceschini; Assistant Coach: Marco Scarpa; Goalkeeping Coach: Francesco Antonioli; Fitness Coach: Roberto Ghielmetti; Match Analyst: Luca Federico; Team Doctor: Cristiano Benelli; Physiotherapist: Aldo Abbadia; Nutritionist: Giuseppe Cuzzocrea; Team Secretary: Guglielmo Cammino.