19 June 2013
The Italy Under-21s were denied the 2013 European championship title yesterday evening as Spain ran out 4-2 winners in the final in Jerusalem.
Almost exactly a year after the Euro 2012 final match-up between the two senior outfits in the Ukraine, the youth sides contested a repeat of that final. The encounter again saw the star-studded Spaniards net four goals and earn the European crown via a convincing performance.
Although they could not bring home the gold, the Azzurri will consider their achievements in the tournament a success after recording a string of impressive results against top class international sides.
While Bianconeri midfielder Luca Marrone did play an important role in Devis Mangia’s team during the qualification stages, his finals tournament was cut short after he suffered an injury during the closing stages of the opening victory against England.
Besides Luca, there were another four members of the squad who are currently contracted by Juventus. Fausto Rossi and Ciro Immobile (scorer of the equalising goal on 10 minutes) both featured in yesterday’s starting line-up, Manolo Gabbiadini entered the action just before the hour mark and Nicola Leali watched the events transpire from the substitutes bench.
