The France Espoirs team dominated Italy for its first Euro match. Les Bleuets opened the scoring through Arnaud Kalimuendo before being joined before the break by the Italians. Bradley Barcola gave France the victory in the second half.
France won 2-1 against Italy (half-time: 1-1) in their first match of Euro Espoirs 2023, Thursday in Cluj in Romania, thus perfectly launching a tournament where it nourishes great ambitions. Les Bleuets struck first in the 22nd minute thanks to a superb heel from Rennais Arnaud Kalimuendo, well served by Pierre Kalulu. Italy responded from a set piece, thanks to their captain Sandro Tonali who dropped the ball on the head of Pietro Pellegri to deceive Lucas Chevalier (35th).
Masters of Possession
But the French, masters of possession, accelerated in the second half and, after a raid from Amine Gouiri, Bradley Barcola, in the Italian box, stole the ball from the feet of Destiny Udogie to deceive Italian goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi. Les Bleuets were also able to count, at the end of the game, on several decisive saves by their goalkeeper Chevalier.
The Italians, in numerical superiority since the 82nd minute and the exclusion of Loïc Badé, believed to equalize at the very end of the match but the abiter considered that Raoul Bellanova’s header had not crossed the line. In its second meeting, France will face Norway on Sunday in the second stadium in Cluj (8:45 p.m.).