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June 15 – European champions Italy survived the fastest goal in finals history to defeat Albania 2-1 and get their title defence underway in style.
Three years ago, Italy conquered England and Europe at Wembley, but as continental champions their fortunes took a downturn – missing out on the World Cup in Qatar and losing manager Roberto Mancini to Saudi Arabia – and on Saturday calamity arrived early in the shape of Nedim Bajrami’s strike, the fastest goal in the history of the European Championship.
The Albanian exploited lax defending in the opponent’s box to dispatch a finish in the top corner in the 23rd second.
Dimitri Kirichenko had previously held the record for the fastest Euro goal after his 67th-second goal against Greece at Euro 2004. Bajrami’s strike was only Albania’s second at the continental finals and a reward for Albania’s supporters who, following in the footsteps of the Tartan Army, had taken over the host city for much of the day.
Inside the vast ground, the noise from the Albanians was deafening. They did reverse Poznans with fans bobbing up and down, and they exploded at the sight of Bajrami’s strike.
Nedim Bajrami oscored after just 23 seconds
The supporters revelled in the dream start Albania had fashioned, but their joy was short-lived. Italy seized the initiative and sprayed the ball around. In the 11th minute, defender Alessandro Bastoni equalized with a header at the far post and Nicolò Barella restored the natural order with a beautiful first-time strike when Albania failed to clear their lines in the 16th minute.
For a moment, the European champions had been wobbling, but in the space of five minutes, they reversed their fortunes. It was a reflection of the gulf in class between the two teams, even if five of Albania’s starters plied their trade in Italy.
In the final third, Italy simply had too much quality and near the centre circle Jorginho was finding his rhythm.
Albania had little option but to sit…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/06/15/italy-overcome-fast-starting-albania-open-title-defence/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-06-15 21:00:15
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