Italy, runners up at Euro 2012, tuned up for Euro 2016 with a 2-0 friendly win over Finland in Verona, Italy, on Monday.
Antonio Candreva’s first-half penalty with Daniel de Rossi’s contribution after the break gave the Azzurri a useful confidence booster ahead of their tough Group E opener against Belgium on Monday next week.
Lazio winger Candreva scored from the spot in the 27th minute after earning the penalty himself.
Photo: AFP
He then turned provider to set up Roma midfielder De Rossi in the 71st minute, this pair advancing their claims for a start in future Chelsea boss Antonio Conte’s starting lineup in Lyon, France, next week.
The 1968 continental champions, who got the better of Scotland last week, tomorrow are to arrive in Montpellier, their base in France.
Italy, trounced by Spain in the final four years ago in Kiev, limped out of the 2014 World Cup at the first round.
After their Euro 2016 curtain-raiser against Belgium, they face Sweden on Friday next week in Toulouse, France, followed by the Republic of Ireland in Lille, France, four days later.
In other Euro warm-up action on Monday, Poland, missing star striker Robert Lewandowski, were held 0-0 by Lithuania in Krakow.
Poland are drawn in Group C in France. They face Northern Ireland on Sunday, followed by Germany on Thursday next week and Ukraine on June 21.
In Reykjavik, defender Birkir Mar Saeverson fired a stunning goal as Iceland romped to a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in their final tune-up ahead of Euro 2016.
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a simple tap-in before Saeverson thundered in the second on the volley 10 minutes later after Liechtenstein looked to have cleared the danger from a corner.
Alfred Finbogasson netted a third goal four minutes before halftime and 37-year-old striker Eidur Gudjohnsen rounded off the scoring in the 82nd minute, starting and finishing a slick move.
Iceland, who are to appear in the finals of a major tournament for the first time in France, open their Euro 2016 campaign against Portugal on Tuesday next week before facing Hungary and Austria in Group F.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with