It was an emotional evening for Roberto Mancini as the Azzurri paid tribute to the late Gianluca Vialli 620 days after winning the Euros together. His side were disappointing in the first 45, going two goals down, but they showed plenty of character after the break and penned England into their own half. “We knew it would be a tough game,” Mancini said. “We scored two goals from corners. We didn’t play well in the first half but we dominated the second; we deserved at least a draw. We pressed more effectively in the second half. The boys played well and that gives us hope. It’s a shame to have lost but there’s still a long way to go. We’ve started with a loss but hopefully, we can end on a high.”

Mateo Retegui, the 56th debutant in the Mancini era, repaid the faith of the coach with his first international goal. He struggled to find space but with his first real chance, he proved that he is a lethal striker. “He’s not been here long and he’s only trained three times with the team. He struggled at the start and then started to move better and he got his goal.”

At the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the Argentina-born, naturalised Italian forward continued his rich vein of goalscoring form. Having scored six goals in his last eight games in club football with Tigre, he scored on his debut. Not bad for a 23-year-old who until not long ago was torn between playing football and field hockey. “I’m sad for the defeat but proud to have made my Italy debut,” he said. “I hoped that we’d win but now we need to keep working and try to win on Sunday. I tried to score in the first half and then did it in the second, which gives me confidence. The important thing is that the team wins the next game.”

At just 20 years of age, Wilfried Gnonto has already made nine appearances for Italy. Mancini sent him on late into the second half where he made an impression with his ability to beat his marker. “It was a difficult game,” the Leeds winger said. “They’re a good team with good players. We suffered in the first half but did better after the break because we have good players too. With a bit of luck, we’d have deserved more.” He is already thinking about Malta on Sunday: “We need to win; we have no other choice. If we play like we did in the second half, we won’t have any problems.”