Italy Under 21 VS Germany (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter delpi25
- Start date
Italy opened the new era of the Under-21 side, but Claudio Gentile has a lot of work to do following a poor display.
There were ten new faces in the starting line-up, including former Chelsea midfielder Sam Dalla Bona, but all eyes were on the returning Antonio Cassano.
The Roma man does appear to have curbed his troublesome personality off the field, but on it he continues to seek the outlandish solution when a simple one would suffice.
The first half saw the Azzurrini hold the field well, but the final ball in was often lacking despite the best efforts of striker Andrea Caracciolo - an impressive replacement for Massimo Maccarone.
Cassano had the opportunity to score early on, but opted to backheel the ball rather than take time over his shot.
Many of these players had never even met before, unlike the Germans who had earned their spot after successful spells in the Under-19 squad. The lack of teamwork and experience was clearly an issue, but one that can be resolved with time.
The Germans were more practical and scored with their first real attempt. After an initial shot was parried, a fierce Preuss piledriver rattled the crossbar and fell back into the path of the grateful Auer.
After the break the pattern continued as another defensive error allowed Auer to net his second of the game within minutes of the restart.
The eight substitutions from Gentile removed what little team spirit the side had, a situation that deteriorated when Alberto Gilardino saw red for a rash challenge from behind.
The game slowly petered out and there will be much to do before the European qualifier against Azerbaijan next month.
Italy U21 : Berni (Pegolo 53); P Cannavaro (Borriello 46), Moretti (Gilardino 53), Zaccardo; Maggio, Pinzi (Guana 59), Dalla Bona, Pasquale (Balzaretti 53), Beati (Zanetti 59); Caracciolo (Gamberini 46), Cassano (Ferri 63)
Germany U21 : Starke; Hinkel, Rau (Schlinker 82), Franz, Zepek; Preuss, Balitsch, Hitzlsperger (Feulner 63), Gemiti (Mikolajczak 63); Auer, Kuranyi
Ref: Ledentu (Fra)
Sent off: Gilardino 73 (I)
There were ten new faces in the starting line-up, including former Chelsea midfielder Sam Dalla Bona, but all eyes were on the returning Antonio Cassano.
The Roma man does appear to have curbed his troublesome personality off the field, but on it he continues to seek the outlandish solution when a simple one would suffice.
The first half saw the Azzurrini hold the field well, but the final ball in was often lacking despite the best efforts of striker Andrea Caracciolo - an impressive replacement for Massimo Maccarone.
Cassano had the opportunity to score early on, but opted to backheel the ball rather than take time over his shot.
Many of these players had never even met before, unlike the Germans who had earned their spot after successful spells in the Under-19 squad. The lack of teamwork and experience was clearly an issue, but one that can be resolved with time.
The Germans were more practical and scored with their first real attempt. After an initial shot was parried, a fierce Preuss piledriver rattled the crossbar and fell back into the path of the grateful Auer.
After the break the pattern continued as another defensive error allowed Auer to net his second of the game within minutes of the restart.
The eight substitutions from Gentile removed what little team spirit the side had, a situation that deteriorated when Alberto Gilardino saw red for a rash challenge from behind.
The game slowly petered out and there will be much to do before the European qualifier against Azerbaijan next month.
Italy U21 : Berni (Pegolo 53); P Cannavaro (Borriello 46), Moretti (Gilardino 53), Zaccardo; Maggio, Pinzi (Guana 59), Dalla Bona, Pasquale (Balzaretti 53), Beati (Zanetti 59); Caracciolo (Gamberini 46), Cassano (Ferri 63)
Germany U21 : Starke; Hinkel, Rau (Schlinker 82), Franz, Zepek; Preuss, Balitsch, Hitzlsperger (Feulner 63), Gemiti (Mikolajczak 63); Auer, Kuranyi
Ref: Ledentu (Fra)
Sent off: Gilardino 73 (I)
I didn't watch the match, but still we can't say that the future of Italian football is in danger because of one friendly match .. that's certainly not the case as 10 new players (nearly a complete team) was introduced .. important players missing: Pellizoli, Ferrari, Macaronne, Blasi, Pirlo, and many many others ...
Our passing, ball handling,shots, free kicks, and corner kicks were mostly crap !!!
You can't teach a guy at that level how to keep corner kicks in bounds, or at least in front of the net.This has to do with individual skill, not team !!
The only 2 times Germany pressed us during the game, they scored ! Otherwise, they justwere content to make us look amateurish !!
I was also disappointed with Cassano and Dalla Bona
You can't teach a guy at that level how to keep corner kicks in bounds, or at least in front of the net.This has to do with individual skill, not team !!
The only 2 times Germany pressed us during the game, they scored ! Otherwise, they justwere content to make us look amateurish !!
I was also disappointed with Cassano and Dalla Bona