The first round goes to Italy. Today at the Stadio Daniele Berni in Monteriggioni (SI), the Azzurrini won the first match of their friendly double-header against Turkey (1-0). After a first half the two teams trying to figure each other out, the return to action saw a host of changes: Corradi made seven in total and his counterpart, Basar, rotated the entire team except the goalkeeper.

Following these changes, Italy looked more dangerous as Marconi and Graziani came close to scoring in the first ten minutes of the half. Shortly afterwards, in the 58th minute, Torino midfielder Aaron Ciammaglichella broke the deadlock: he entered the opposition penalty area from the left, cut inside and found the right corner of the goal with his right foot. The Azzurrini almost doubled their lead shortly afterwards through Alessio Vacca, but the Juventus striker was adjudged to be offside by the referee. There was little else of any note, and Italy closed the first encounter against the Turks with a narrow victory. The second friendly match at the Stadio Stefano Lotti in Poggibonsi will take place the day after tomorrow (Thursday 24 February, at 11:30 CET).

Italy 1-0 Turkey

Goalscorer: 58’ Ciammaglichella

Italy (4-3-1-2): Borriello; Casali (72' De Zen), Comuzzo, Chiarodia [C], Milani (72' Piantedosi); Parravicini (46' Graziani), Di Maggio (C) (69' Malaspina), Ciammaglichella (69' Oliva); Troise (46' Quieto); Marconi, Bolzan (46' Vacca). Unused substitutes: Raimondi (GK), Serra, Carboni, Ripani, Lipani, Domanico. Head Coach: Corradi

Turkey (4-3-1-2): Şimşir [C]; Yavuz (46' Bülbül), Koyuncu (74' Arıkan), Kayalı (90'+1 Ayhan), Bengi (74' Rinal); Kayar (74' Ay), Yöntem (C) (90'+1 Gezek), Sihlaroğlu (90'+1 Çekiç); Acar (46' Özdemir); Yiğit (60' Sönmez), Alpsoy (60' Yildirim). Unused substitutes: Dilmen (GK), Bayram, Yılmaz. Head Coach: Başar.

Referee: Dario Di Francesco; Assistants: Spataru Costin Del Santo and Giorgio Ermanno Minafra; Fourth official: Adalberto Fiero.