Italy fell behind after 12 seconds, but came back and beat France 3-1 in the highly entertaining opening game of Nations League Group A2 on Friday.
Bradley Barcola opened the scoring in the first minute when he caught Giovanni Di Lorenzo napping, ran into the box and fired the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Italy equalised on the half hour when Federico Dimarco volleyed home a clever backheel pass from Sandro Tonali. After a tense first half, the two teams went into halftime level on the scoresheet.
Five minutes after the break, France faltered again when Davide Frattesi put Italy ahead and Giacomo Raspadori gave the visitors the breathing room they needed to silence the Parc des Prince crowd in the 74th minute.
“Great game. We were afraid that he (Tonali) would not be able to last 90 minutes, but in the end he showed two good bursts. We have found another very strong player,” said Italy coach Luciano Spalletti.
In the other Group A2 match on Friday, Kevin De Bruyne scored twice and led Belgium to a 3-1 victory over Israel at a match that was played behind closed doors in Hungary for security reasons.
Belgium’s captain put his side ahead after 21 minutes, but Israel equalised nine minutes before half-time despite the Israelis spending most of the half defending at Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Stadium. Youri Tielemans restored Belgium’s lead just after half-time and De Bruyne converted a penalty shortly after to extend the lead. Belgium could afford another penalty to move joint top of the table with Italy.
In Group B3, Erling Haaland could not repeat his form as a goalscorer in the domestic league. Norway had to share the points in a goalless draw with Kazakhstan even though he fired 19 shots.
Slovenia And Austria The hosts also took a point from their first match with a 1-1 draw. Benjamin Sesko’s penalty in the first half was cancelled twelve minutes later when Konrad Laimer took a ball in the penalty area and scored from close range.
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In Group C2, Ioannis Pittas scored a goal in the first half Cyprus a 1-0 victory over Lithuania and Dennis Man, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus scored a goal Romania secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Kosovoin which Mergim Vojvoda was sent off shortly before the end.
In Group B4, Orri Óskarsson and Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson scored the winning goal in both halves Iceland a 2-0 victory over Montenegro.
