Italy beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 on Sunday to win their final warm-up match before defending the European Championship title in Germany.
Davide Frattesi’s classy volley seven minutes before halftime was enough for Italy to claim victory in soaking conditions in Empoli.
Inter midfielder Frattesi could have scored at least once before netting from Federico Chiesa’s clipped cross as Luciano Spalletti’s experimental lineup showed encouraging flashes of attacking flair and quickfire passing.
Photo: AP
The Azzurri performed much better than in Tuesday last week’s drab goalless draw with Turkey, with Gianluca Scamacca also being twice denied by Bosnia goalkeeper Kenan Piric.
“I could have scored more so there’s still much to improve on,” he told broadcaster RAI.
“We had good chances, but we have to take advantage as in the Euros groups we’re going to have fewer of them,” he said.
Italy open the defense of their crown on Saturday against Albania in Group B, where they have also been drawn with Spain and Croatia.
Bosnia failed to qualify for Euro 2024 and were missing captain Edin Dzeko, but had the first chance, Haris Hajradinovic being denied by a superb Gianluigi Donnarumma save after he intercepted Riccardo Calafiori’s sloppy pass.
Frattesi then had three good chances to open the scoring before finally guiding in his fifth international goal.
Striker Scamacca, who was key to Atalanta BC making history by winning the UEFA Europa League, had his head in his hands in the 64th minute when his powerful volley was brilliantly tipped away by Piric.
The 25-year-old was involved in much of Italy’s best play and should have done better nine minutes later when Andrea Cambiaso supplied him with a perfect low cross which he could only direct straight at Piric from near the penalty spot.
The hosts’ profligacy in front of goal was almost punished in stoppage-time when a dozing Federico Dimarco rolled Anel Ahmedhodzic clean through on goal, but Donnarumma brilliantly closed Ahmedhodzic down to ensure Italy would travel to Germany after a deserved win.
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
There was another win for Arsenal in the Premier League on Wednesday, but more misery for Liverpool and their under-fire manager, Arne Slot. While Arsenal accelerated their title charge with a 2-0 victory over Brentford to regain a five-point lead, Liverpool needed a late own-goal just to salvage a 1-1 draw with Sunderland AFC at Anfield. Slot is back under pressure, with his team languishing in eighth place in a disappointing title defense and his decision to leave star forward Mohamed Salah out of the starting lineup for a second straight game likely to be heavily scrutinized. “It’s clear that teams that play
RSS