Italy started its preparation campaign for the European Championship without any problems on Friday evening. As expected, Roberto Mancini’s team effortlessly dealt with San Marino, which had to concede seven goals: 7-0. Italy was not in its strongest formation. For example, Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne stayed on the bench for the entire match.
After missed opportunities by Gianluca Mancini and Federico Bernardeschi, it took the Italians more than half an hour to break the defense of San Marino. Bernardeschi was lucky in the 32nd minute that goalkeeper Elia Benedettini let a sustainable-looking low shot slip from the edge of the penalty area: 1-0. The same goalkeeper boxed away a corner two minutes later and was unlucky that Gianmarco Ferrari tapped in the rebound from the volley: 2-0.
Fumbling in the defense of San Marino led to the third Italian goal four minutes after the break. Andrea Grandoni failed to kick the ball out of the box, offering Matteo Politano a simple chance to find the far corner: 3-0. The Italians’ fourth goal followed in the 67th minute after a brilliant double combination between Bernardeschi and Andrea Belotti, with the latter able to pull the trigger in complete freedom: 4-0.
San Marino was not spared a monster score, as it turned out in the final phase of the match. A shot from Gaetano Castrovilli from the second line ended up on the post fifteen minutes before the end, after which Matteo Pessina scored the rebound: 5-0. Two minutes later, Politano made it 6-0, by hitting a falling ball from about eight meters. The final chord was for Pessina, who broke through from the left and tapped the ball through Benedettini’s leg from an awkward angle: 7-0.
Italy will practice against the Czech Republic next Friday, after which the country will start the group stage of the European Championship. Turkey, Switzerland and Wales are the opponents in this.