Italy U-21 Chase Away Ghosts with Crushing Victory Over Slovenia

Italian Football, Italy, The Azzurri, Under 21, Under 21 European Championship

These are the Azzurrini we want to see. When things got tough, Paolo Nicolato’s Italy U-21 pulled out a majestic performance and trounced Slovenia 4-0 in their last group stage match of the European Championship.

Italy were coming from two disappointing draws with Czech Republic and Spain and needed to beat the tournament hosts to secure a place among the top eight of Europe. The Azzurrini took control early in the game and their win was never under discussion as they found the back of the net with Giulio Maggiore, Giacomo Raspadori, and Patrick Cutrone (twice).

Italy also took the luxury of failing a penalty and once again didn’t manage to end their match with 11 men as Riccardo Marchizza saw red for the second time in this tournament – the fifth expulsion in three games for the Azzurrini.

Paolo Nicolato will not be happy about that, though winning the game and qualifying for the Quarter Finals was all that mattered tonight in Maribor. Italy will need to wait tomorrow to know the name of their next opponent to face on May 31.

The coach had an overly-depleted roster due to injuries and multiple match bans and could count on only seven players on the bench including two backup goalkeepers. In absence of Gianluca Scamacca, Patrick Cutrone’s attacking partner was Sassuolo’s Giacomo Raspadori.

A Spezia-driven midfield, featuring Giulio Maggiore and Tommaso Pobega on top of Davide Frattesi, made up for the important absences of Sandro Tonali and Niccolò Rovella.

Despite a patched-up formation and an aggressive start from Slovenia, The Azzurrini‘s message was loud and clear as they accumulated a triple lead in just 25 minutes. It was Giulio Maggiore to open the scoring on 10 minutes with a sharp left-foot shot, at the end of an extended action that the Spezia man finalized after the Slovenian goalkeeper’s save from his teammate Pobega.

Giacomo Raspadori soon added to Igor Vekic’s woes beating him to the near post from a brilliant Luca Ranieri lobbed cross.

On 25 minutes, Patrick Cutrone released Frattesi in the box and the Monza loanee was pushed down by Zan Zaletel. Captain Cutrone stepped up to the spot and beat Vekic again, scoring the very first goal of his troubled season that saw him landing in Valencia after a disappointing stint at Fiorentina.

Before half time, Cutrone failed to double his tally as he saw his second attempt from the spot saved by the Slovenian shot-stopper.

There was not much left to say in the second half but the Azzurrini didn’t hit the brakes and made it four just five minutes after the restart. This time, Cutrone went for a screamer from outside the box that found the right spot into the top corner of the Slovenian goal.

There were a few more chances for the Milan academy graduate and even Lorenzo Colombo, another Milan youth product, went close to round up the scoring but the hosts somehow managed to stop the bleeding and pull the game to an end without further punishment.

On the other hand, the Azzurrini ended on a bitter note as Riccardo Marchizza picked up two yellow cards in the last 30 minutes and also Gianluca Frabotta was booked a few minutes after setting foot on the pitch. They will be both missing the Quarter Finals match and should have been more cautious.

 

MATCH REPORT

March 30, 2021 – U-21 European Championship Group B
ITALY U-21-SLOVENIA U-21 4-0

SCORERS: 10′ Maggiore, 20′ Raspadori, 25′ Cutrone pen., 50′ Cutrone

ITALY U-21 (3-5-2): Carnesecchi; Lovato (54′ Marchizza), Gabbia, Ranieri; Bellanova (54′ Zappa), Frattesi, Pobega (74′ Pirola), Maggiore, Sala; Raspadori (74′ Colombo), Cutrone (86′ Frabotta) (Plizzari, Cerofolini) Coach: Nicolato
SLOVENIA U-21 (4-4-2): Vekic; Zinic, Brekalo (46′ Stojinovic), Karic, Kolmanic (81′ Ploj); Matko, Zaletel, Cerin, Prelec (46′ Svetlin); Elsnik (46′ Petrovic), Medved (71′ Celar) (Rogelj, Gorenc, Horvat, Turk, Ogrinec, Kolobaric, Leban) Coach: Acimovic

REFEREE: Frankowski (Poland)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Frabotta (I), Karic, Brekalo, Matko, Cerin (S); Red Card: Marchizza (I)

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