National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Uxio Calatayud started the match with the kick off. Ercole De Sisti showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Tito Lacorte, who was totally free with the ball in the 10th minute. 11 minutes into the game, U21 Italy's Christian Shaarawy nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Arnaldo Raya made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-0. The supporters of U21 Spain booed when U21 Italy was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 14 match minutes in a wonderful position. Alessandro Bianchi didn't get a good kick on the ball. Karlos Montero struck a weak shot in the 15th minute. Ercole De Sisti didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for U21 Spain. Christian Shaarawy might have been able to make a better finish in the 17th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Arnaldo Raya. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Christian Shaarawy ran back to his position shaking his head. Christian Shaarawy could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 21st minute of the match, but Arnaldo Raya made a huge save. Arnaldo Raya showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Christian Shaarawy, who was totally free with the ball in the 22nd minute. Christian Shaarawy's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 26thth minute, Arnaldo Raya skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. The audience thought a goal was coming when Christian Shaarawy got free with Arnaldo Raya in the 28th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. U21 Italy's Ercole De Sisti played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Uxio Calatayud in the 31st minute of play. Cisco Lermo received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 32nd minute. Ercole De Sisti tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 34 minutes into the game, Pepe Serrano was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Spain's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Italy the free kick. Pepe Serrano kicked well hit freekick during the 34th minute of the match. Tito Lacorte fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 37th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ercole De Sisti having to interfere. Ercole De Sisti showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tito Lacorte in the 39th minute of the match. 41 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Uxio Calatayud came free, but Ercole De Sisti reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 43rd minute Cisco Lermo shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ercole De Sisti saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Arnaldo Raya showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Christian Shaarawy in the 44th minute of the match. Ercole De Sisti showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Cisco Lermo, who was totally free with the ball in the 45th minute. U21 Spain's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Karlos Montero in the 47th minute. Karlos Montero made a great header on U21 Spain's corner, it was just that U21 Italy's Ercole De Sisti managed to reach the ball for a save. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

U21 Italy made a substitution. Ennio Pantano replaced Flavio Berardini. U21 Italy made a substitution. Mauro Icardi replaced Christian Shaarawy. U21 Spain's Pablo Stoichkov was substituted for Tito Lacorte. The wind increased when Ennio Pantano made the kick off in the second half. U21 Italy's attentive Eugenio Taraborrelli managed to snatch the ball when Pepe Serrano made a throw-in in the 56th minute of the game. Arnaldo Raya took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ennio Pantano, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 60th minute Mauro Icardi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Arnaldo Raya saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. U21 Spain's Arnaldo Raya played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Mauro Icardi in the 61st minute of play. If Ennio Pantano had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 63rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. U21 Spain's Nel Fonticoba was substituted for Madeo De Pedro. 69 minutes into the match, U21 Spain's goal looked a bit too open when Mauro Icardi came free, but Arnaldo Raya reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Ercole De Sisti showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Cisco Lermo, who was totally free with the ball in the 71st minute. Giuseppe Baresi hit a great freekick 73 minutes into the match. The supporters of U21 Spain booed when U21 Italy was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 75 match minutes in a wonderful position. Giuseppe Baresi didn't get a good kick on the ball. Ercole De Sisti made an important save on a dangerous shot by Uxio Calatayud in the 77th minute. A sloppy throw-in by Iratxo Olmedo in the 83rd minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by U21 Italy's Giuseppe Baresi. 84 minutes into the match, U21 Spain's goal looked a bit too open when Mauro Icardi came free, but Arnaldo Raya reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 86th minute Mauro Icardi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Arnaldo Raya saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Arnaldo Raya made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mauro Icardi in the 88th minute of play. Arnaldo Raya showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mauro Icardi in the 93rd minute of the match. It was a well-played corner which Corrado De Meis managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. For all the effort they put into the match, the U21 Spain players left disappointed. They had fought hard, but couldn't break down the home team's defense. The match ended in a win for U21 Italy.