After beating Denmark in their opening game, the Under-17s were beaten 4-1 today by Israel in the Four Nations tournament in Hennef (Germany). In what is the side's first defeat of the season, it was game that started badly, with Israel taking the lead early on, and got progressively worse as Italy's errors were punished. Coach Massimiliano Favo lined up with a completely different starting eleven with respect to the game two days ago, giving himself the chance to see all of his squad in action and get a clear idea on who to call upon in the first phase of European qualification, that Italy will host in October.

“It's a lesson that will do us good," commented Favo. "It's better that it has come now, in a friendly. I made lots of changes because we wanted to use this tournament to evalute everyone; we'll now look to get back on track against Germany."

2-0 down, the Azzurrini missed a penalty through Mosconi (Inter) before pulling a goal back thanks to Atalanta defender Manuel Maffessoli at the start of the second half. But in the closing stages, Israel took advantage of the space left by Italy to clinch victory.

“We conceded two comical goals dues to defensive injuries," underlined the coach, "and that really hurt us. We also missed a penalty and after 2-1 we were dominating the game for large parts, but they did well to punish our mistakes.”

THE MATCH. Favo kept the 4-3-1-2 formation used against Denmark, but completely changed the starting eleven: Vannucchi in goal, a centre-half pairing of Verde and Maffessoli, and Cama and Cappelletti wide of them. In midfield, there was a place from the first minute for Arduini, Mancuso and Perin, with Plicco, who came off the bench to score against the Danes, called in to support the front two of Maiorana and Orlandi.

It was uphill task from the start for Italy, with Israel taking the lead inside two minutes thanks to Segev, who surprised Vannucchi. On 27 minutes, Magor doubled their lead from distance, with Italy losing Maiorana to injury shortly after. Replacing him was Mosconi, who fired a penalty wide in the first half. After the break, Maffessoli, after a scramble in the box from a corner, made it 2-1 and the Azzurrini pushed on for an equaliser. But after losing possession, Israel got their third through Savitch, before Zafrani put the final nail in the coffin in the dying stages for 4-1.

On Tuesday (11:00 CEST) at the Sportpark Nord in Bonn, the third and final outing for Favo's young lads in this tournament see them take on Germany, who play Denmark this afternoon.

Fixtures, results and standings in the Four Nations tournament

Matchday 1 (7 September)
Germany 3-2 Israel
ITALY 3-1 Denmark 

Standings: ITALY, Germany and Israel 3 points, Denmark 0

Matchday 2 (9 September)
Israel 4-1 ITALY
16:00 CEST: Germany vs. Denmark (Anton Klein Sportpark - Hennef)

Matchday 3 (12 September)
11:00 CEST: Germany vs. ITALY (Sportpark Nord - Bonn)
11:00 CEST: Denmark vs. Israel (Anton Klein Sportpark - Hennef)