Victory today leaves passage to the second phase of the European qualifiers just one step away. At Invern Park in Larne, near Belfast, the Under 17 national team defeated Northern Ireland. After beating Albania in their first match, now the Azzurrini only have to wait for the result of tonight's match (at 20:00 CEST) between Scotland and Albania: the presumed victory of the Scots would give Corradi's boys mathematical certainty of qualification. For Italy, one final match remains, against Scotland (Tuesday 2 November, 16:00 CEST) which could be a decider for first place in the group.

Today, it was a clear victory: after an unlucky first half, in which the Azzurrini hit the post twice and which was made up of several chances, a second half followed that saw Italy always on the front foot, with Valentin Carboni and Giacomo Marconi getting the goals to seal a beautiful day for Azzurri football.

Corrado Bernardi lined up the team in the same 4-3-3 formation as the first match against Albania, with the only change being Ciammaglichella who came in for Parravicini: Raimondi started in goal; the defensive line was formed by Serra, Chiarodia, Mane, and Saiani; the midfield trio was made up of Di Maggio, Lipani (C), and Parravicini; Carboni, Bolzan and Bruno lined up in attack. After a first half in which the teams felt each other out, Italy came forward and became protagonists twice: on 22 minutes with Valentin Carboni (Inter) and on 39 minutes with the captain Luca Lipani (Genoa), Italy struck the woodwork of the Northern Irish goal. The teams went into the break with clean sheets and a bitter taste that, at the beginning of the second half, immediately turned to sweet: it was Carboni again who, in the 48th minute, was fed through by his club teammate Di Maggio (Inter), to give the Azzurrini the advantage. The rest of the game did not have too much action: Corradi breathed new life into the team by substituting three players (Vacca for Bolzan in minute 62', Onofrietti and Marconi for Parravicini and Carboni in minute 80'). His boys took care of Northern Ireland’s attacks and struck when they had to. It was the Azzurrini who took over to double their lead in injury time (93'): Onofrietti released Vacca in the area Vacca who shot at goal; the save from the goalkeeper rebounded to Giacomo Marconi who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net.

“A great match”, said an enthusiastic Corradi at the end of the match. “With a first half full of chances that we, unfortunately, couldn’t put away. In the second half, the guys didn't drop the pressure and that resulted in a good victory”. Qualification is near: “We’re aiming for three wins in this tournament. We have to wait for Scotland's match tonight to have mathematical certainty as of today”.

Group 12, Under 17 European Qualifiers: Albania, Northern Ireland, ITALY, Scotland

Match schedule and standings

Wednesday 27 October

ITALY 5-0 Albania

Northern Ireland 2-3 Scotland

Saturday 30 October

Northern Ireland 0-2 ITALY 

Scotland vs. Albania (20:00 CEST this evening)

Standings: Italy 6 pts, Scotland 3, Northern Ireland & Albania 0

Tuesday 2 November

ITALY vs. Scotland, Shamrock Park Stadium – Portadown, 16:00 CEST

Northern Ireland VS. Albania