The second of two friendlies in Coverciano between the Italy U17s and Spain ended 2-1 for the young Furie Rosse. Aside from this morning's defeat - undeserved, from their performance on the pitch - Massimiliano Favo's performed very well, especially in terms of intensity and quality of play, with the coordinator of the Azzurri youth teams himself, Maurizio Viscidi, appearing visibly satisfied at the end of the match.

‘We put on a great performance and certainly did not deserve this defeat,’ commented Azzurrini coach Favo at the end of the match. 'I even received compliments from the Spanish coach, who confided in me that he preferred our performance on the pitch. We have to play these matches to grow and to see the players on the field. We found many players that we tried for the first time and who can give us a big hand in the near future. There are many positive aspects coming from this match: beyond the result, we have the awareness that we can play to the standard of last year, winning the European title in the age category.’

The match. As per tradition, the second match of the training camp gives the opportunity to see all the young players on the pitch and so, compared to the first match on Tuesday afternoon, there were only two repeat starters on the pitch (Giani and Borasio). The first key episode of the match occurred just 3 minutes into the game: from a corner, Pittarella stretched out and did well to push away the ball, but could do nothing about Aicua's winning tap-in. It immediately put us on the back foot, although Italy proved reactive and aggressive despite the disadvantage. Still, the best chances were for the Spaniards, who, however, were not precise enough to double their lead. The equaliser came after 25 minutes: Busiello earned a penalty, which he then calmly converted himself.

The beginning of the Azzurri's second half was even more fierce, with Favo's boys doing their best to fill the pitch and to charge down the left, often undermining the Spanish rearguard. But just when the Azzurrini seemed to be in full control of the match, midway through the second half, Spain got their second goal, with Flores making no mistake in a counter-attack. Nine minutes later, Italy had a great chance to once again balance the match, but this time Busiello - from the penalty that Bellone earned - could not get past the goalkeeper Medina. It ended up being the last great chance of the match, which ended on a bitter, but promising, 2-1 for the guests.