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Italy defeated Mexico 2-1 (ITA: Davide Frattesi 3', Luca Ranieri 67'; MEX: Roberto de la Rosa 37')
Paolo Nicolato’s wards were up against the Mexicans in their Group B match at the Gdynia Stadium in Poland at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Mexican coach Diego Ramírez wanted to showcase a tight defensive structure, using the counterattacks against the Italians.
Gli Azzurri wasted no time as they forced a save from Carlos Higuera from a free kick as early as in the first two minutes of the game.
A beautiful ball from the Italian half got chested down by Gianluca Scamacca, which got picked up by Davide Frattesi, whose thunderous shot from 30 yards out, opened the scoring for the Italians in the third minute.
Gianluca Scamacca tried his luck from forty yards out, but the ball screamed past the outside of the left goal post.
A defensive lapse from a set-piece cost the Italians dearly as El Tri equalized in the 37th minute through Roberto de la Rosa’s header. The Italian custodian, who got beaten to the ball by Scamacca’s header following a corner, fell into the path of Roberto who headed it past an empty net on the far side.
In the second half, Italy tested the woodwork through Salvatore Esposito’s corner. Matteo Gabbia rose above the Mexican defense to hit the crossbar. Andrea Pinamonti‘s follow-up shot got sent wide after ricochetting past a Mexican defender.
The Gli Azzurri scored their second goal from a corner when a volley from Luca Pellegrini got turned into the net by Luca Ranieri who got played onside by Mexican defender Efrain Orona.
El Tri almost equalized in the dying moments when Diego Lainez's shot got blocked by a firm left hand from Italian custodian Alessandro Plizzari. The loose ball got stopped by an important challenge from Raoul Bellanova which prevented Roberto de la Rosa from scoring his second of the match.
Brazilian referee Raphael Claus sounded the whistle to bring the match to an end. Mexico held on to 56% possession of the ball while blocking seven shots to keep the Italians down to two goals. Both teams had seven shots on target, though the Italians had 25 on goal than Mexico’s twelve.
Mexico will play Japan while Italy would take on Ecuador in their next round of matches.
