An attractive and solid Italy side beat Slovakia 3-0 to go top of the Qualifying Round group. The win means that Alberto Bollino’s side will be seeded for December’s draw ahead of the Elite Round.

“To finish the group on full points with three wins from three games absolutely isn’t something to take for granted,” said Alberto Bollini. My compliments go to all the guys because we were able to score seven goals without even conceding one. A reason for even greater pride is the great sense of being a team with great attachment to the shirt and all of the guys have shown this in the first round of qualifying.”

On the artificial surface at the ‘Giorgio Calbi’ in Cattolica which was sanctioned for use by UEFA in agreement between the Italian and Slovakian federations following torrential rain over the past few days in the region, Bollini once again made some tweaks while sticking with a back four. Russo started in goal in place of Brancolini with Ntube at centre-back alongside Okoli. Up front, Atalanta’s Piccoli got his chance while Esposito moved out left with Riccardi on the right.

Sebastiano Esposito literally looked unplayable as he caused problem’s for Slovakia’s right-back Vasil in their one-on-one battles. Five minutes in after some work by Esposito, Riccardi and then Gyabuaa were unable to finish from a cross. The dynamisms from the Atalanta man was a real asset for Bollini in midfield and Gabuaa fired wide in the 14th minus following another Esposito cross.

The deadlock was broken in the 30th minute. Esposito got away on the left and put in a low cross that a player like Riccardi was never going to miss. 1-0 Italy and the Azzurri were deservedly ahead for their display in the opening half-hour.

The Azzurrini’s work from the days prior was paying off as they hardly looked like conceding as they cut down on the counterattacks that had happened on Saturday against Cyprus. After 40 minutes of play, Slovakia had their first real chance but Bernat couldn’t connect properly with a Toth cross from the left wing.

It was the same story after the break. Italy continued to dominate play and probe down the flanks. In the 52nd minute, the second goal came. Once again, Esposito and Riccardi with the Inter player setting up his team-mate from Roma to make it 2-0 with an accurate header. The third goal came through Fagioli in the 62nd minute as his shot/cross caught out the goalkeeper Surovcik.

The Elite Round will take place in March with the Azzurrini going into the four-four-team group where only the top team will qualify for the finals next July in Northern Ireland. Italy will be seeded and nothing can be taken for granted as we look to the upcoming months for the Under-19 National Team under Bollini with optimism.

Italy 3-0 Slovakia 

ITALY (4-3-3): Russo; Colombini, Ntube, Okoli, Ponsi; Gyabuaa, Rovella (90' Cangiano), Fagioli (76' Greco); Riccardi (60' Ricci), Piccoli (76' Salcedo), Esposito (90' Petrelli). Substitutes.: Brancolini, Pierozzi, Gozzi Iweru, Petrelli, Armini. Coach.: Bollini

SLOVAKIA (4-3-3): Surovcik; Toth, Maly, Mesik, Vasil (46' Tandara); Nebyla (76' Lavrincik), Danek (63' Ilko), Lichy; Nemcik, Bobcek (63' Basista), Bernat (76' Letenay). Substitutes: Rehak, Veselovsky, Suslov, Bari. Coach: Rusnak

REFEREE: Maae (DAN). Assistants: Christensen (DAN) and Beigi (SVE). Fourth official: Al-Hakim (SVE)

GOALS: 30’ and 52' Riccardi, 62' Fagioli

NOTE – Attendance of around 800. Bookings Rovella and Riccardi. 

 

Stoppage Time

Goalkeepers: Federico Brancolini (Fiorentina), Alessandro Russo (Sassuolo);
Defenders: Nicolò Armini (Lazio), Lorenzo Colombini (Inter), Paolo Gozzi Iweru (Juventus), Michael Ntube (Inter), Memeh Caleb Okoli (Atalanta), Edoardo Pierozzi (Fiorentina), Fabio Ponsi (Fiorentina);
Midfielders: Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Jean Freddi Greco (Torino), Manu Emmanuel Gyabuaa (Atalanta), Federico Marigosu (Cagliari), Alessio Riccardi (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Empoli), Nicolò Rovella (Genoa);
Forwards: Sebastiano Esposito (Inter), Elia Petrelli (Juventus), Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta), Eddie Anthony Salcedo Mora (Hellas Verona).

Staff – Delegation Head: Evaristo Beccalossi; Co-Ordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Coach: Alberto Bollini; Secretary: Aldo Blessich; Assistant Coach: Giovanni Valenti; Fitness Coach: Vito Azzone; Goalkeeping Coach: Graziano Vinti; Match analyst: Mirko Magistro; Doctors: Luca Labianca and Emanuele Fabrizi;Physiotherapists: Giuseppe Galli and Roberto Cardarelli; Tutors: Giorgio Orlando and Marco Lista.

Group 6 results and table

Matchday One
Cyprus 1-2 Slovakia 
ITALY 2-0 Malta 

Matchday Two

Slovakia 3-0 Malta 
ITALY 2-0 Cyprus 

Matchday Three
ITALY 3-0 Slovakia 
Malta 0-2 Cyprus 

TABLE: ITALY* 9 points, Slovakia* 6, Cyprus 3, Malta 0

* Qualified for the Elite Round