The Under-18 National Team lost 2-1 to their French counterparts in the friendly match held at the French Federation’s centre, Clairfontaine. A game of two halves: Italy were hesitant in the first half meaning they went into the break 1-0 down after Nsona Wa Saka’s third minute goal; in the second half, they played with more tempo which brought them the equaliser after Fiorentina centre-back, Christian Dalle Mura’s goal in the 73rd minute. However, in the latter stages of the game the Azzurrini fell to defeat after Affamah converted a dead ball situation in the 79th minute to make it 2-1. 

“A first half where we fought hard,” said Corradi at the end of the match, “and a second half to take positives and learn from: unfortunately there were too many occasions where we lacked the finishing touch. After all, this is a new group, which is beginning to take shape and is slowly achieving greater cohesion. In this sense, compared to the last friendly game against Turkey, we have made considerable progress and we must build on today’s second half where we were more determined and strung some good passages of play together. Putting aside the result,” concluded the Coach, “these are the aspects to take on board which define the individual growth of young players and the awareness of the whole group in its own right.”