After Thursday's game, the Under 18s lost their second friendly against France going down 3-0 in Clairefontaine. Despite a good first half performance, Daniele Franceschini's lads were beaten comfortably in the end by the Bleus. "We have a few chances to take the lead, but we weren't clinical enough to make the most of them," the analysis of the Head Coach. "I liked the lads' mentality from the off, but in the second half we lost our distances and our shape, and France's quality came out; this is a group that won the European Under 17 Championships last year." 

For the second game running, Franceschini changed his entire starting eleven, opting for Di Bartolo in goal; Bakoune, D'Avino, Comuzzo and Turco in defence; Bovo, Oliva and Quieto as a midfield three, with Ciammaglichella supporting Owusu and Anghelé. For France, Eliaz Zidane, son of the former Juventus, Real Madrid and others' star, started. Putting the home side ahead was Lyon defender Sael Kumbedi Nseke, who also grabbed a goal in the first friendly. After the break, the second and third goals arrived through Toulouse's Noah Edjouma after 52 minutes and Lyon's Mamadou Sarr after 74 minutes, respectively. Both Head Coaches - Bernard Diomede and Daniele Franceschini - made in total 16 changes throughout the game: seven for France and nine for Italy. 

"The loss is more than just because of our errors," concluded the Azzurrini Head Coach, "but I believe that you can only learn by making mistakes. We've been beaten twice, but they were not two disappointing performances; the lads' efforts should be commended."