At Coverciano, Italy recorded their second win against Albania in less than 24 hours. After three goals on Wednesday for Bollini’s Under 19s, three more came from Daniele Franceschini’s Under 18 side, made up of players who have moved up from the Under-17 squad and who played in the final stages of the European Championships in Israel in May. A strong start to the season for the class of ’05.

Italy started the game strongly, hitting the woodwork inside the first five minutes through Romani’s header. The opening goal to give them the lead came in the 16th minute after a powerful shot from Francisco Pio Esposito (Inter) beat the Albanian goalkeeper Pojana. Eleven minutes later, they doubled their lead through another Inter player, Enoch Owusu, who made the most of a long ball from Romani.

After the break, Franceschini rotated the players at his disposal, as did his Albanian counterpart Behari. The Azzurrini continued to control the game with authority, finding a third goal in the 61st minute: Bartesaghi set up Leonardo Graziani (Roma) who found the back of the net with a right-footed drive from outside the penalty area. “Regardless of the result, it’s important to start the season off with the right mentality and attitude, and the boys have done that” Franceschini commented after the game. “This is a quality team and they showed that on the pitch: it’s clear that when you progress from the Under 17s to the next level up you need to develop as a player because from a mental and physical point of view the games are more demanding, but these are the requirements for success.”