Daniele Zoratto’s Under-16 National Team comfortably beat Qatar 5-0 today in the first of the two friendly fixtures scheduled between the sides this week at Coverciano.

“The result wasn’t our greatest concern,” said Zoratto after the match. “There were a lot of players who took part in the ‘Torneo dei Gironi’ to take a look at: we wanted to see them in action at an international level. I’d say that some players have certainly caught the eye.”

The Azzurrini took the lead after just ten minutes through Giordano Rossi, who fired across the goalkeeper and into the net. Despite dominating the rest of the half, Italy weren’t able to add to their tally before the break after wasting a number of chances.

Qatar, who rarely ventured out of their own half of the pitch during the opening period, looked to take the game to the Azzurrini more at the start of the second half, but Zoratto’s team got a second when Masala converted from the penalty spot in the 69th minute. From then, the floodgates opened: the impressive Masala scored his second with a tap-in four minutes later, while Turco and Vignato also got on the scoresheet after 81 and 87 minutes respectively to make it 5-0 to Italy.

At 12:00 CET on Thursday, the teams will meet once again at Coverciano. “A few changes in personnel will be made to give all the lads a chance out on the pitch,” concluded Zoratto. 

Italy 5-0 Qatar

ITALIA (4-3-1-2): Bonucci; Missori, Cagia, Biagetti, Regonesi; Rossi G., Faticanti, Maressa; Accornero; Masala, Mancini. Substitutes: Boseggia, Vona, Pelamatti, Motolese, Zambelli, Doratiotto, Rossi R., Semenza, Vignato, Turco, Pagano. Head Coach: Zoratto
QATAR (4-3-3): Katoul; Al-Raeesi, Elnoiri, Ali, Elkhatib; Almejaba, Amer, Alsharshani; Surag, Al-Saeed, Al-Quraishi. Substitutes: Abrahim, Elnagar, Al-Rawi, Al-Naimi, Al Shaaibi, Alghareeb, Irfan, Al-Dosari, Al-Naimi, Aboulela, Abdulnasir. Head Coach: Nardi
REFEREE: Salvatore Moretti. Assistenti: Giuseppe Lisi e Gabrio Pulcinelli
GOALS: 10’ Rossi G., 69’ and 73’ Masala, 81’ Turco, 87’ Vignato
NOTES – Booked: Elnagar and Cagia. Added time: 3’ (second half).

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Bryan Bonucci (Inter), Elia Boseggia (Chievo Verona);
Defenders: Mattia Motolese (Bologna), Filippo Missori (Roma), Gabriele Cagia (Genoa), Christian Biagetti (Fiorentina), Antonello Vona (Parma), Iacopo Regonesi (Atalanta), Francesco Zambelli (Inter), Andrea Pelamatti (Inter);
Midfielders: Riccardo Pagano (Roma), Tommaso Maressa (Juventus), Giordano Rossi (Lazio), Giulio Doratiotto (Juventus), Riccardo Rossi (Pescara), Andrea Semenza (Inter), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Federico Accornero (Genoa);
Forwards: Tommaso Mancini (Vicenza Virtus), Nicolò Turco (Juventus), Michele Masala (Cagliari), Samuele Vignato (Chievo Verona).

Staff – Technical Coordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Federal Coaches: Daniele Zoratto and Massimiliano Favo; Secretary: Alessandro Lulli; Fitness Coach: Luca Coppari; Goalkeeping Coach: Gianmatteo Mareggini; Doctor: Edoardo Gaj; Physiotherapist: Marco Di Salvo.

 

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