In Lignano Sabbiadoro this evening, the Azzurre suffered their second consecutive 1-0 friendly defeat after losing to Austria in their penultimate game of 2022. Despite the defeat, the 2,000-strong support in attendance at the Stadio Teghil applauded off the girls after witnessing a courageous and spirited performance. After an alert Hickelsberger-Fuller got the eventual winning goal, and a few minutes of uncertainty and confusion afterwards, Italy attacked in typical, lively fashion but were unable to find the equaliser from the many chances created. Defensively, the team was good, but to take note was the offensive part of the game, as asked for on the eve of the game by Milena Bertolini, who had words of praise nonetheless for the effort from her players.

“In the opening 30 minutes, we did well, then we conceded the goal and that put us back a little," said the Head Coach at the end of the game. "In the second half, we reacted really well, had numerous goal-scoring chances and were able to put Austria under great pressure. We're trying to give our younger players some experience, who are showing up well in the league, and whose contributions I'm really happy with. Ahead of the match on Tuesday, we'll work on the attacking side of our game; to continue our development, we need to be more clinical." 

The final match of 2022 will be played on Tuesday (20:00 CET, live on Rai Sport+ HD) in Belfast against Northern Ireland. The road to the World Cup will start back up in the middle of February with the prestigious English tournament, the Arnold Clark Cup, that will see the Azzurre come up against the hosts, and current European Champions, and Belgium and South Korea.

The match. The Head Coach once again chose a 3-5-2 formation, just as she had done against Brazil in the previous game. In front of goalkeeper Durante, together with the Roma pairing Bartoli and Linari, was Filangeri, who has started all four games now after the summer's European Championships. The central midfield role was given to Rosucci, with captain for the game Bonansea, and Boattin, both out wide, and Giacinti and Inter forward Polli - making her starting debut - lining up top. The only player unavailable was Serturini, who has sustained a muscle injury to her left thigh that will force her out of next Tuesday's fixture. In the Austrian side, the main standouts were Roma defender Wenninger, who scored the last time both sides met each other, and Hoffenheim forward Billa, leading the forward line for Fuhrmann's eleven.

The first quarter of an hour went by without any real action; the only goal-scoring opportunity fell to Giacinti but her powerful shot was off-target, after being set up nicely by Polli's lovely lay-off. As the half developed, the Austrians grew into the game, gaining some confidence pushing further up the field, but the Azzurre defence blocked the few, and up to that point, timid attempts at goal. After 34 minutes, Linari, taking advantage of the absences of Giugliano and Ceronia, hit a beautiful free-kick from 20 yards that flew just past the post. But two minutes before the end of the half, Hickelsberger-Fuller's well-placed low strike opened the scoring, after a perfect ball-through in behind by Zadrazil that a flying Filangeri just couldn't reach to clear, to get her fifth international career goal.

The second half opened up with a rousing reception from the stadio Teghil paying public for the introduction of substitute Salvai, back wearing the Azzurre shirt after almost one year due to a knee injury. Ten minutes later, the Head Coach brought on Giugliano to provide further quality in the middle of the park, asking her to increase the tempo and unpredictability of the home side's play. Austria, though, were unaffected and continued to push bodies forward in search for their second: just after the hour mark, Feirsinger went mightily close with a shot from the edge of the area. That Austrian ambition convinced Milena Bertolini to throw Cernoia and Girelli into the mix, which immediately gave the home side a lift. The midfield changed tactics and started to go more direct to the forwards which provided the best chance of the game for Italy after 74 minutes through Giacinti's angled shot across goal, but it was well kept out by the feet of Zinsberger. 

Further changes were made, with Simonetti and Cantore coming on at the end, but they didn't have the desired effect, at least for the final result which remained the same until Swiss referee Staubli blew the final whistle. A beaten Azzurre must now turn their attentions to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to end 2022 on a high.

ITALY VS. AUSTRIA 0-1 (0-1 HT)

Goal: 43’ Hickelsberger-Fuller (A)

ITALY (3-5-2): Durante; Bartoli, Linari, Filangeri; Bonansea, Caruso (dal 53’ Giugliano), Rosucci (dal 65’ Rosucci), Galli (dall’81’ Simonetti), Boattin; Giacinti (dall’81’ Cantore), Polli (dal 65’ Girelli). Unused Subs: Aprile, Giuliani, Cafferata, Merlo, Salvai, Soffia, Glionna, Cantore. Head Coach: Milena Bertolini.

AUSTRIA (4-5-1): Zinsberger; Wenninger, Georgieva, Wienroither (dal 71’ Kirchberger), Hanshaw; Dunst, Zadrazil, Feiersinger (dall’88’ Klein), Puntigam, Hickelsberger-Fuller (dal 71’ Kolb); Billa. Unused Subs: Kresche, Pal, Vienerroither, Felix, Campbell, Brunmair, Wenger, Schasching, Naschenweng. Head Coach: Irene Fuhrmann

Referee: Esther Staubli (SUI). Assistants: Susanne Kueng (SUI) and Linda Schmid (SUI). Fourth Official: Stefania Menicucci (ITA).