Davide  Mastrantonio and Antonio Raimondo starred for Italy U18 as they beat Portugal in their opening match of the 19th Mediterranean Games. At the Ahmed Zabana Stadium in Oran, the Roma goalkeeper saved a penalty from Ricardo Marques at the start of the second half and pulled off a few more stunning stops. Just as the match seemed destined to end 0-0, in the 77th minute, the Bologna striker latched on to a long ball from Tommaso Mancini and, from a tight angle, stuck it past João Carvalho.

This win puts the Azzurrini in a good position to get out of their group as a win in Mers El Hadjadj against Greece, who lost 2-1 to Turkey in the other game in Group B, would see them progress to the semi-final.

 “The first game in these competitions is always the toughest,” said coach Daniele Franceschini, “and it was vital to get off on the right foot. We played well in the first half, then Portugal upped the ante after the break while we dropped off a little bit. But the boys did well to dig in and we went and got three important points.”

Schedule, results and standings in Group B

MD1 (26 June)
Greece 1-2 Turkey
ITALY 1-0 Portugal

Standings: ITALY and Turkey 3 points, Portugal and Greece 0

MD2 (28 June)
17:00 local (18:00 CEST) ITALY vs. Greece (Mers El Hadjadj)
20:00 local (21:00 CEST) Portugal vs. Turkey (Sig)

MD3 (30 June)
17:00 local (18:00 CEST) ITALY vs. Turkey (Oran)
17:00 local (18:00 CEST) Portugal vs. Greece (Sig)