National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Beppe Maestri got the match started through his kick off. U21 Italy's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Alessandro Nesta in the 5th minute. In the 6th minute, Christian Fanfarone hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 8th minute, Arvid Persson made a precise shot to the right of Dennis Matteucci. U21 Italy's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. Dennis Matteucci showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Folke Axelsson, who was totally free with the ball in the 13th minute. U21 Sweden were awarded a corner in the 14th minute after U21 Italy's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Axel Pihlblad took the corner. The supporters of U21 Italy booed when U21 Sweden was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 18 match minutes in a wonderful position. Svante Julin didn't get a good kick on the ball. 19 minutes into the match, U21 Sweden's goal looked a bit too open when Elia Burelli came free, but Viktor Blomkvist reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 23 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Arvid Persson came free, but Dennis Matteucci reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Arvid Persson in the 24th minute of play forced U21 Italy's goalkeeper Dennis Matteucci to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 28 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Arvid Persson came free, but Dennis Matteucci reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Italy's zone, Arvid Persson stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Dennis Matteucci came out of the goal and Arvid Persson tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Dennis Matteucci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Arvid Persson in the 35th minute of the match. If Arvid Persson had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 38th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Dennis Matteucci made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Arvid Persson in the 40th minute of play. In the 41st match minute, U21 Sweden was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Rikard Isaksson to maneuver through the defense. When Olof Jonsson came up free with the goalie in the 47th minute, the U21 Sweden fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Olof Jonsson couldn't finish the play.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Arvid Persson to strike the kick off in the second half. U21 Sweden's Qämbäräliyev Fahlgren got a good chance for a goal in the 52nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Dennis Matteucci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Arvid Persson in the 54th minute of the match. Dennis Matteucci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Folke Axelsson in the 59th minute of the match. In the 61st minute of the match U21 Sweden got a corner. U21 Italy's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Axel Pihlblad ran over to the corner to take the kick. Anton Siöberg made a great header on U21 Sweden's corner, it was just that U21 Italy's Dennis Matteucci managed to reach the ball for a save. Alvise Forlani hit a great freekick 62 minutes into the match. Dennis Matteucci took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Arvid Persson, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 66 minutes into the game, Damiano Di Carlo was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Italy's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Sweden the free kick. Damiano Di Carlo hit a great freekick 66 minutes into the match. Arvid Persson fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 68th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Dennis Matteucci having to interfere. 69 minutes into the match, U21 Sweden's Arvid Persson sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Dennis Matteucci narrowly saved just below the crossbar. In the 77thth minute of the game Beppe Maestri who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Sweden's Viktor Blomkvist was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 89th minute, Arvid Persson reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Dennis Matteucci. The goal made the score 0-2. After 92 minutes, Svante Julin mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Sweden and the U21 Italy players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of U21 Italy booed when U21 Sweden was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 92 match minutes in a wonderful position. Svante Julin didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 94 minutes, Olof Jonsson mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Sweden and the U21 Italy players grew even worse after the yellow card. U21 Sweden's fans were overjoyed with their teams well-earned victory and stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle to celebrate the win.