If you wanted to make a statement, this certainly succeeded in doing so. In the friendly against Romania in Frosinone, a new-look Under-21 Team with three debutants went down by two goals, but with character and personality, they closed the gap with a goal from Samuele Mulattieri and in the second half sealed the 4-2 win with Simone Canestrelli’s hattrick. A victory stamped with the Crotone crest, the first scorer, their striker and the second, their defender, but above all sought after and orchestrated by coach Paolo Nicolato who does not enjoy losing and he transformed the team in the second half, also calling upon his ‘veterans’. The Azzurrini’s 2021 ends in a great way, with five victories and a draw for a team that has shown it knows how to play and how to react.

THE MATCH - It’s was a completely different lineup from the one we have seen so far in the European qualifiers. As a sign of the consistency of the team’s philosophy and play, the coach played his second-string side, with Turati in goal, in defence Ferrarini, Canestrelli, Scalvini, Quagliata, in midfield Ranocchia, Ricci, Fagioli, in attack Cancellieri, Piccoli, Mulattieri. It was a new-look Under-21 side with three debutants and with only one regular starter, Empoli midfielder Samuele Ricci who also wore the captain's armband.

It was a chance to put the new faces to the test and to have a look at new combinations with future European games in mind. Romania, who have already qualified automatically for the tournament as the host nation, were thus a valid test for Italy in their search for qualification, but above all, good experience for the team.

Straight away in the first minute, the Azzurini challenged Popa with a right-footed shot by Ranocchia. Between 10' and 11', Piccoli had two chances, the first with a right-footed shot that Ticu parried behind for a corner. The second was a first-time header, off a corner by Fagioli, but the effort went over the middle of the bar.

Italy looked to play, whereas Romania only had defending in mind. In the 18th minute, another header went wide, this time from Cancellieri. Popa then blocked a bicycle kick by Piccoli and then a right-footed strike from Mulattieri. It was a one-way game until the 29th minute when the Azzurri defence was caught out and Romania took the lead: Corbu's low cross into the centre, intercepted by Canestrelli anticipating Popescu, but in the process, accidentally turning the ball into his own goal past Turati.

Struck where it hurt, the Azzurini reacted well and took control of the game once more. Both Mulattieri and Cancellieri came close but to no avail. Then, with Italy in the ascendency, in the 42nd Romania struck again 2-0: from a corner, Ticu found Racovitan who scored with a diving header. But only seconds later, Italy got themselves back into the game, a low shot from the Crotone forward Samuele Mulattieri, slightly deflected by Dican, ended up in the bottom corner to the right of Popa and the Azzurrino had his first goal in the Under 21 jersey.

Losing was not an option for Nicolato and in the second half, he immediately made five changes, inserting the newcomer Russo in goal in place of Turati, the more experienced Esposito for Ranocchia. Esposito took over the role of playmaker with the shift of Ricci to the side and another debutant Parisi in place of Quagliata as well as Cambiaso for Ferrarini.

In the 52nd minute, Cancellieri tested Popa, who was forced to deflect the shot over the crossbar. Italy continued to grind it out. After a good save by Russo, who blocked the attempt by Popescu, the Azzurini levelled the score at the end of a splendid move started by Cambiaso on the right, with a pinpoint cross for the Crotone defender Simone Canestrelli who made up for his own goal by heading in the equaliser for the 2-2.

But it didn't end there. Nicolato made three more changes: Cortinovis for Ricci, debutant Pellegri for Mulattieri and Colombo for Cancellieri. In a matter of minutes, the match against Romania became Canestrelli's game and he had the opportunity to make the most of his physicality: in the 79th minute, he latched onto a header from Colombo and headed it behind Popa to score, 3-2. Then three minutes later, again with a header, he scored Italy’s fourth and completed his hat-trick to cap off a memorable debut. And there was still time for Pellegri's effort to be deflected over the crossbar.

Now Nicolato knows he can count on a compact, prodigal group, a squad that is growing on the pitch: "I'm very happy - said the coach at the end of the match – with the result, but above all for the reaction. This was a difficult game to end on, a friendly before the group disbanded after a tough game like Dublin, which meant psychologically taking some risks. But everyone did very well. We were undeservedly on the back foot, but everyone reacted well. We played good, aggressive football and I'm very satisfied.