The Azzurrini overcame Cyprus (2-1) in the second match of the elite phase and went to the top of the group, joint with the Republic of Ireland who beat the Ukraine (3-0), Italy's next opponent: the last day will decide the two teams that will gain a place in the final phases of the European Championships in Budapest. Against Cyprus, one goal per half: Sadotti opened the scoring and then the second from Mannini in the second half, securing the victory, despite the goal of Socratous in the final minutes of the game. Next Monday is the last match against Ukraine, who will need a victory to earn one of the two places available for a place in the next round.

A draw will be enough for Corradi's boys to secure at least second place, but 5 points might not be enough: a victory would protect them from a going out as the worst second place of this elite phase: "I don't want to wait for the result of the other rounds," stressed the Azzurro coach, "so we will play to win. Now we have to rest, get rid of the mental and physical effort in order to regain energy". On today's match, Corradi makes no excuses: "It was not a good match, we suffered more than we should have. I think this was due to the efforts made during the first match against Ireland: I want to remember that the boys were able to recover from a two-goal disadvantage. In fact, some of them on the pitch cramped up and that makes me understand that fatigue, both mental and physical, affected the performance. But up until now I've been talking about the glass being half empty; the glass being half full makes me say that, in any case, we got the three points we needed to keep up with Ireland: now we'll recover our strength and the next game we'll play our best.

The match. In the first quarter of an hour the two teams studied each other and it was not until the 18th minute that the first action of note occurred: a through ball from Romano set up Romagnoli, who slotted the ball into the net, but the referee whistled for offside and ruled it out. Cyprus responded a minute later with a fine move in the box between Sofokleus and Kostantinou, who headed Tzouliou's shot just wide. In the 28th minute Italy took the lead: a free-kick taken by Crapisto on the left flank found Sadotti in the box, who broke through and sent the ball into Papakostantinou's net. There was another chance for Scotti, whose header, off a corner kick taken by Crapisto, grazed the woodwork.

We got to half time with Italy ahead by a goal and in the second half, Corradi makes the first two changes (there were five by the end) and so does his Cypriot colleague. The start was cautious, with few chances on either side. The Azzurro's flash came in the 74th minute when Ragnoli Galli, in the box and with his back to goal, magnificently controlled a ball, serving Mannini on the edge of the box: the Roma player unleashed a precise right-footer that found the corner of the Cypriot goal. It was the second but the Cypriots did not give up and continued to play their game. In the 79th minute, the Cypriot defender Sofoclou narrowed the deficit by turning a ball into the goal, almost unmarked, which caught Martinelli by surprise. It was 2-1, an Azzurri lead that would last until the end of the match. On Monday, the final and decisive match against Ukraine. 

Cyprus 1-2 Italy

Goalscorers: Sadotti 28’, Mannini 74’, Socratous 79’

Cyprus (4-2-3-1): Papakonstantinou (C), Paschali (Pirintzis 46’), Socratous, Mikelides, Nikolaou; Andreou, Avramidis (Evangelou 83’); Sofokleous (Loukaidis 46’), Tzouliou (Kattirtzis 65’), Poursaitides; Konstantinou (Isaak 65’). All. Charalambides. A disp. Pishias, Angeli, Hadjigeorgiou, Yiannakou.

Italy (4-3-1-2): Martinelli; Ventre, Desole (Ramaj 46’), Sadotti, Pagnucco (Cocchi 76’); Mannini (C), Bonanomi (Mendicino 46’), Crapisto; Scotti (Ragnoli Galli 63’), Romano, Ravagnoli (Liberali 63’). All. Corradi. A disp. Plaia, Riccio, Verde.

Referee: Bandic (BIH); Assistenti: Macic (BIH) e Geerolf (BEL); IV Uomo: Vergoote (BEL). 

Group 6 schedule: Italy, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Ukraine

 

Tuesday 7 March

ITALY 2-2 Republic of Ireland

Cyprus 2-4 Ukraine

Friday 10 March

ITALY 2-1 Cyprus

Ukraine 0-3 Republic of Ireland

Table: Italy 4 points, Ireland 4, Ukraine 3 points, Cyprus 0

Monday 13 March

Ukraine vs. ITALY, at 15:00 (14 CET), Geroskipou Municipal Stadium – Paphos;

Republic of Ireland vs. Cyprus, at 15:00 (14 CET), Stelios Kyriakides Stadium - Paphos.

The squad

Goalkeepers: Tommaso Martinelli (Fiorentina), Francesco Plaia (Spezia);
Defenders: Matteo Cocchi (Inter), Fabio De Sole (Torino), Filippo Pagnucco (Juventus), Gabriel Ramaj (Atalanta), Edoardo Sadotti (Fiorentina), Alessandro Ventre (Juventus), Francesco Verde (Juventus);
Midfielders: Andrea Bonanomi (Atalanta), Francesco Crapisto (Juventus), Mattia Liberali (Milan), Mattia Mannini (Roma), Leonardo Mendicino (Atalanta), Lorenzo Riccio (Atalanta), Marco Romano (Genoa);
Attackers: Federico Ragnoli Galli (Atalanta), Emanuele Rao (Spal), Tommaso Ravaglioli (Bologna), Filippo Scotti (Milan).