The first half was not a fun watch. The Under 18 National Team failed to contain the greater physical and technical skill put on display by the French today at L’Aquila. At Stadio 'Gran Sasso d'Italia' – which for the first time hosted a National team match. It was during the first 10 minutes of both halves that the Azzurrini ran into trouble, with France relentlessly splitting the Italian defence. Today, France’s left-winger Ismael Gharbi, a player who has made his way through the youth teams of Paris St Germain and the scorer of the first two goals, showed all his quality and was an exemplary leader of the team. Among the Azzurrini, captain Filippo Missori, Roma defender, was in the spotlight: delivering crosses which the French defence struggled with at times. Franceschini's lads got back into the game in the second half, playing well and coming close to scoring on a couple of occasions. "We have to recognize the quality of our opponent today - said the coach at the end of the match – they were a compact team, great with the ball at their feet and very well organised. I liked our reaction; we did everything we could to stay in the game until the very end. On Saturday, we have the second game, and we will try to fix what went wrong".

Match Report. The game was played at a good pace right from the off, with France pressing high, looking to trouble the Azzurrini. The French took the lead ten minutes in with a goal from Gharbi, who came of his left flank to shoot from the edge of the area, beating Mastrantonio and breaking the deadlock early on in the match. In the 20th minute, France came again with Bouanani, who forced Italy’s fullback to bring him down in order to stop him. In the 33rd minute, Italy had their first shot on goal from Pagno, but the Italian defence blocked it behind for a corner. The first half ended without any Italian reply, but with a good reaction from the Italians, with Franceschini’s players gaining ground and possession relative to the first 20 minutes, dominated by the French.

The second half opened with the French on the front foot once again and Gharbi, in particular, causing all sorts of problems: after only four minutes, the PSG winger controlled a cross from the right-hand side and found the opening to make it 0-2. From here, Franceschini tried to fix the problem, immediately bringing on Ignacchitti and D'Andrea in reaction to the goal. In the 67th minute, there was indeed an Italian reply, with Kumi putting a great ball into the middle from down the right-wing: but the French defence dealt with the threat. A compact outfit, the French kept the game under their control and in the 70th minute, once again Gharbi came back to trouble the Italian defence, after his usual cut in from the left towards the middle of the box, he shot just high. Italy looked dangerous in the 76th minute with a Kumi header towards the top corner of the goal saved by the French keeper. The keeper then saved again, stopping a volley that fell to Accornero from a corner. Italy were clearly disheartened in the final minutes of the match, the period in which they conceded their third. Assisted by Mikelbrecis, it was Danois who scored the third and final French goal, breaking free and striking through the middle of the Italian defence. The game was all but over, and the final minutes were marked by a late flurry of changes as well as some efforts from distance by the Italians, trying to register at least one goal. At the final whistle, there were French celebrations whilst the Azzurri had already moved on, looking ahead to the rematch that will take place on Saturday morning, once again at Stadio ‘Gran Sasso d’Italia’, at 11:00

Tomorrow afternoon at 15:00, there will be another kind of meeting, one focused not on rivalry but solidarity instead. The two teams and their respective staff will visit the Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, renovated after the 2009 earthquake thanks to the financial aid of the French government who, along with other nations, helped in the reconstruction of the capital of Abruzzo.