National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10302 (Terracing: 7727, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Ernesto Cordone made the kick off and thus started the match. Fabio Cera in the 8thth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Rene Redak, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. In the 10th minute of the match U21 Italy got a corner. U21 Croatia's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Cristoforo Rondinelli ran over to the corner to take the kick. A very nice done corner allowed Fabio Cera to score against Rene Redak in U21 Croatia's goal. 1-0 after 10 minutes. After a rather tough play, U21 Croatia's Zoltan Šerbedžija got a free kick in the 13th minute. Davide Di Ianni stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ferdinand Jerbić's shot from short distance in the 15th minute. 20 minutes into the game, Ernesto Cordone cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-0. Rene Redak was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Rene Redak showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ernesto Cordone, who was totally free with the ball in the 24th minute. Davide Di Ianni didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Gašpar Švaljek went, in the 26th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-1 was the resulting score. In the 29th minute Ferdinand Jerbić shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Davide Di Ianni saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. U21 Croatia's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Isak Topol in the 32nd minute. U21 Croatia's Isak Topol was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but Davide Di Ianni in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. After 33 minutes, John Snow mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Italy and the U21 Croatia players grew even worse after the yellow card. Davide Di Ianni showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ferdinand Jerbić in the 36th minute of the match. After 37 minutes, Alan Vuica mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the U21 Croatia and the U21 Italy players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of U21 Italy booed when U21 Croatia was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 37 match minutes in a wonderful position. Alan Vuica didn't get a good kick on the ball. Rene Redak showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ernesto Cordone, who was totally free with the ball in the 39th minute. In the 43rd match minute, U21 Italy was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Anselmo Lo Iacono to maneuver through the defense. Fabio Cera could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 47th minute of the match, but Rene Redak made a huge save. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

The wind increased when Ferdinand Jerbić made the kick off in the second half. In the 53rd match minute, U21 Italy was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by John Snow to maneuver through the defense. 58 minutes into the match, U21 Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Michel Angelo came free, but Rene Redak reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Through an outstanding action, after 60 minutes, Davide Di Ianni successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Ljubomir Potkonjak during the 64th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. U21 Italy made a substitution. Attilio Lepori replaced Bernardo Piacentini. After 65 played minutes U21 Croatia got a freekick which was hit by Ljubomir Potkonjak. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Italy's zone, Zoltan Šerbedžija stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Davide Di Ianni came out of the goal and Zoltan Šerbedžija tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. U21 Croatia's Ninoslav Bunić was substituted for Ferdinand Jerbić. A collision led to U21 Italy getting a freekick after 71 minutes play. John Snow hit a great ball. In the 74th minute Fabio Cera shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Rene Redak saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Rene Redak showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Fabio Cera in the 76th minute of the match. After some careless play in the U21 Croatia defense, Fabio Cera kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Rene Redak. The U21 Croatia fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Rene Redak should have stopped the shot. Davide Di Ianni took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ninoslav Bunić, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. A collision led to U21 Croatia getting a freekick after 80 minutes play. Franko Husak hit a great ball. Davide Di Ianni showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ninoslav Bunić, who was totally free with the ball in the 82nd minute. Fabio Cera fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 84th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Rene Redak having to interfere. After 87 played minutes U21 Italy got a freekick which was hit by Fabio Cera. A collision led to U21 Italy getting a freekick after 88 minutes play. John Snow hit a great ball. Franko Husak kicked well hit freekick during the 91st minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ninoslav Bunić in the 95th minute of play forced U21 Italy's goalkeeper Davide Di Ianni to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. There was no doubt that U21 Italy were the better team. U21 Italy's players enjoyed the ovations of the crowd after the victory.