A good start for Italy at the Under-21 European Championships in Slovakia: in Trnava, with a goal by Baldanzi in the 26th minute, the Azzurrini beat Romania 1-0. Also on the pitch as a starter was the rossoblù Matteo Prati. Romania had two chances to level the score: in the second minute of added time in the first half Desplanches saved Munteanu's penalty, and in the final minutes Mitrov sent a lob wide and missed the last chance.
"The first in the group is always fundamental. It's never easy, we did many good things, there are some things to correct, but the boys were good - commented on Rai the coach Carmine Nunziata -. We were lucky because Desplanches was very good and saved the penalty. We could have closed it earlier, without suffering until the end".
In the other Group A match, defeat and 90' for the other Cagliari player called up to the Under-21 European Championship, Adam Obert. His Slovakia lost 2-3 against Spain: the comeback from 0-2 to 2-2 at the start of the second half was not enough (goals by Kopásek in the 48th minute and by Verona's Suslov in the 53rd minute, after the Iberian goals by Pubill in the 16th minute and Joseph in the 18th minute), because in the 90th minute Tárrega gave the three points to the Spanish.
In the next round, on Saturday at 9 pm, Obert and Prati will compete: Slovakia-Italy is scheduled, while Spain-Romania is at 6 pm . On the third day, Tuesday 17, also at 9 pm, Romania-Slovakia and Spain-Italy will be played. The first two of each group advance: quarterfinals on June 21 and 22 (Group A is paired with Group C), semi-finals on the 25th and final at the Tehelné pole in Bratislava on the 28th at 9 pm.
There are a total of sixteen national teams participating in the event that will take place until June 28, the date on which the final will be played: Group B includes Germany, England, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, Group C includes France, Georgia, Poland and Portugal, and Group D includes Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Ukraine. Italy has won the Under-21 European Championship five times, but in two of the last three editions it has exited in the group stage (including the "home" one in 2019) and its last success was in 2004. But, for Carmine Nunziata's Azzurrini, there is a positive note: it was Italy who triumphed in the other edition in Slovakia, in 2000.