The Under 17s' Four Nations campaign got underway with a win today at the Sportpark Nord in Bonn, with the Azzurrini beating Denmark 3-1. Goals from Mattia Liberali (AC Milan), Francesco Camarda (AC Milan) and Elia Plicco (Parma) have taken them joint-top in the standings with Germany, who beat Israel 3-2 in the day's other fixture. Israel are next up for Italy on Saturday (11:00 CEST kick-off) in Hennef.

It was a convincing victory for Massimiliano Favo's side, who after their two August friendlies with Slovenia (a 1-1 draw in Gradisca D’Isonzo and a 3-0 win in Ajdovščina), showed encouraging signs of growth ahead of the first phase of European qualification, scheduled to start in October.

“I'm really satisfied," said the Azzurrini Head Coach, "because we played really well against a strong outfit in Denmark, who have significant physical and technical characteristics. I have to say that the lads were excellent, even the subs who came on did really well.” Despite the hot weather, Italy also showed good physical conditioning: "The technical qualities tend to come out when you are physically in good shape. These lads started with me two years ago in the Under 15s; last year, they worked really well in the Under 16s with Zoratto and I hope they can continue to grow and develop this season, too. There's a lot of work to do, but we're on the right track."

THE GAME. Favo put Liberali in behind a front two pairing of Inter's Mosconi and AC Milan's Camarda in a 4-3-1-2 formation: Pessina in goal, Garofalo and Vezzosi as centre-halves, and Colombo and Cocchi as full-backs. The playmaker role was handed to Niccolò Gariani, with Diego Pisani and Di Nunzio either side of him in midfield. The opening ten minutes were somewhat tense and cagey, with Italy growing into the game the more the half went on. After going to close to taking the lead through Mosconi and Camarda, they eventually broke the deadlock at the end of the first half: Mosconi was brought down in the box and the referee had no doubts and immediately pointed to the spot, where Liberali stepped up and made no mistake. The lead was doubled immediately after the restart from a lovely piece of forward play by Di Nunzio and finished off by Camarda, who picked up the ball, following a block by Danish keeper Breum-Harild, to bag the second. It was all Italy, but after 75 minutes, in one of Denmark's rare attacks, they reduced the deficit through Obi. But ending the contest was Plicco in stoppage time, who after being on the pitch for only 15 minutes met Cama's cross and headed home to seal it 3-1.

Fixtures, results and standings in the Four Nations tournament

Matchday 1 (7 September)
Germany 3-2 Israel
ITALY 3-1 Denmark 

Standings: ITALY and Germany 3 points, Israel and Denmark 0

Matchday 2 (9 September)
11:00 CEST: Israel vs. ITALY (Anton Klein Sportpark - Hennef)
16:00 CEST: Germany vs. Denmark (Anton Klein Sportpark - Hennef)

Matchday 3 (12 September)
11:00 CEST: Germany vs. ITALY (Sportpark Nord - Bonn)
11:00 CEST: Denmark vs. Israel (Anton Klein Sportpark - Hennef)