Milena Bertolini had said it beforehand: "Let's not underestimate Israel". The Coach knew that at this point, two weeks before the start of the championship, that the Azzurre’s fitness would by no means be the best. Italy paid the price for this in Tel Aviv, struggling with a fast start from the hosts and subsequently going behind in the game. However they completed their comeback thanks to two wonderful goals from Girelli and Bartoli, as well as from Valentina Giacinti who was sharp as always. The 3-2 final score did little to convey everything about a game full of goals and emotion, with Laura Giuliani’s save at the death preventing what would have been a humiliating draw for Italy.

There’s a long way to go to match the girls’ form at the World Cup, where last June their football in France made millions of Italians fall in love with the side, but this victory was hugely important to kick off their path to the 2021 European Championship in England. "The matches in August and September are always difficult,” said Milena Bertolini, “at the beginning we struggled with Israel’s aggression and we looked sluggish. We certainly didn't take advantage of all the opportunities we had and then, when we thought the game was over, we slowed down too much and nearly paid the price. We have to grow." They return to the pitch on Tuesday in Tbilisi: "Now we have to recover our strength, analyse where we went wrong and figure out how best to approach the match against Georgia,” said the Coach.

MATCH REPORT
Italy were almost identical to the side that shone so brightly at the World Cup in France, with 10 of Milena Bertolini’s starting XI having also started in the World Cup quarter-final against the Netherlands. The only change was for the injured Barbara Bonansea, with Cristiana Girelli coming in to complete the attack alongside Valentina Giacinti. In Israel’s side there were only three players who play for foreign club sides: defender Keren Goor and midfielder Marian Awad, who play in the United States with Santa Clara University and Long Island University respectively, and Freiburg striker Sharon Beck.

The start of the game was tough, Israel defended compactly and the Italians struggled to find a way through, partially due to the extreme heat. After 11 minutes Bergamaschi burst down the right wing, but her cross came to nothing. Italy piled on pressure with constant corner kicks, but the hosts countered well and it was only Bartoli’s important slide tackle in the 20th minute that prevented Beck from putting the hosts ahead. After 25 minutes Galli found herself face to face with the Israeli goalkeeper but couldn’t put the chance away, which was also the case twice for Girelli in the following minutes. An Israel goal arrived unexpectedly in the 32nd minute as Efraim played it to Goor in the area, who herself beat Laura Giuliani with a strong right-footed shot. The goal gave confidence to the hosts who pushed on, but the half ended 1-1 as Cristiana Girelli scored after a delightful assist from Giacinti. Italy very nearly took the lead in stoppage time with Bergamaschi, but Cohen did well to keep the Italian out.
 
Israel tried hard to frustrate the visitors with little fouls and constant time-wasting, and the host side received five bookings. Beck nearly scored in the 54th minute with her left-footed shot just wide of the post, and a minute later Italy responded with a nice move from Giacinti and Girelli. Milena Bertolini tried to inject pace into the side with Annamaria Serturini coming on for Galli on the left. However, it was Elisa Bartoli's magic that gave Italy the lead after 64 minutes. The Italian number 13 received the ball from Serturini, dribbled past Vered Cohen and then bent a right-footed shot right into the top corner. A splendid goal, and the second in the National Team for Roma’s captain. Valentina Giacinti made it 3-1, taking advantage of a clumsy spill by the Israeli goalkeeper to put the ball into an empty net. Arianna Caruso, the Juventus midfielder, made her debut in the closing minutes and Giacinti neared a second as her shot hit the post. However, the drama didn’t end there as Awad drew one back with a goal on the break, and in the 94th minute Beck connected well with a header from a corner, forcing a huge save from Giuliani to bring an even bigger sigh of relief from the Azzurre bench.


Photo credits: Oded Karni Israeli Football Association

ISRAEL 2-3 ITALY (1-1 HT)
Goals: 34’ Goor (I), 47’ Girelli (I), 64’ Bartoli (I), 71’ Giacinti (I), 91’ Awad (I)

ISRAEL: Cohen A.; Barkai (75’ Elinav), Sade, Nakav, Sofer D. (46’ Abo Shanab); Sendel (Cap), Awad; Cohen V., Efraim (54’ Schulmann), Goor; Beck. A disp: Rubin, Sofer O., David, Avital, Shimrich, Shtainshnaider. Coach: Gabriel Burstein.

ITALY: Giuliani; Gama (Cap), Linari, Bartoli, Guagni; Galli (56’ Serturini), Giugliano, Bergamaschi, Cernoia; Giacinti (80’ Tarenzi), Girelli (76’ Caruso). A disp: Durante, Rosucci, Sabatino, Marinelli, Fusetti, Bonfantini, Tucceri Cimini, Baldi. Coach: Milena Bertolini.

Referee: Volha Tsiareshka (BLR); Assistants: Alena Karas (BLR) e Nastassia Danchanka (BLR). Fourth official: Aliaksandra Yakushevich (BLR).

Cautions: Efraim (I), Barkai (I), Sendel (I), Abo Shanab (I), Awad (I)

National Team Schedule:

Friday 30 August
9:30 Training session at training centre in Shefayim (closed)

Saturday 31 August
14:10 Departure for Tbilisi from Tel Aviv 
17:45 Arrival in Tbilisi and transfer to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Tbilisi

Sunday 1 September
17:00 Training session at ‘David Petriashvili’ training centre (closed)

Monday 2 September
17:00 Training session at ‘Mikheil Meskhi’ stadium (First 15 minutes open to media)

Tuesday 3 September
16:15 (14:15 Italian time) Georgia vs. Italy

Media activities at conclusion of match

Wednesday 4 September 
05.05 Return to Italy via Monaco

Notes: Israel: CEST+1 / Georgia: CEST +2