Italy beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 on Sunday to win their final warm-up match before defending the European Championship title in Germany.
Davide Frattesi’s classy volley seven minutes before halftime was enough for Italy to claim victory in soaking conditions in Empoli.
Inter midfielder Frattesi could have scored at least once before netting from Federico Chiesa’s clipped cross as Luciano Spalletti’s experimental lineup showed encouraging flashes of attacking flair and quickfire passing.
Photo: AP
The Azzurri performed much better than in Tuesday last week’s drab goalless draw with Turkey, with Gianluca Scamacca also being twice denied by Bosnia goalkeeper Kenan Piric.
“I could have scored more so there’s still much to improve on,” he told broadcaster RAI.
“We had good chances, but we have to take advantage as in the Euros groups we’re going to have fewer of them,” he said.
Italy open the defense of their crown on Saturday against Albania in Group B, where they have also been drawn with Spain and Croatia.
Bosnia failed to qualify for Euro 2024 and were missing captain Edin Dzeko, but had the first chance, Haris Hajradinovic being denied by a superb Gianluigi Donnarumma save after he intercepted Riccardo Calafiori’s sloppy pass.
Frattesi then had three good chances to open the scoring before finally guiding in his fifth international goal.
Striker Scamacca, who was key to Atalanta BC making history by winning the UEFA Europa League, had his head in his hands in the 64th minute when his powerful volley was brilliantly tipped away by Piric.
The 25-year-old was involved in much of Italy’s best play and should have done better nine minutes later when Andrea Cambiaso supplied him with a perfect low cross which he could only direct straight at Piric from near the penalty spot.
The hosts’ profligacy in front of goal was almost punished in stoppage-time when a dozing Federico Dimarco rolled Anel Ahmedhodzic clean through on goal, but Donnarumma brilliantly closed Ahmedhodzic down to ensure Italy would travel to Germany after a deserved win.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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