Our Under-21s beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-0 on a big afternoon. The only goal of the game was scored in the 14th minute by Nicolò Rovella, who has come through a tough time out with injury. Italy now have 17 points and a game in hand, with these three points meaning they claimed top spot in Group F from Sweden, who were beaten 2-0 by Ireland. The crowd at Trieste’s Stadio Nereo Rocco were treated to a feast of football as Italy U21 played brilliantly, as we are by now accustomed to. The team displayed a lot of technical quality and were constantly on the front foot.

THE GAME. Nicolato went with his usual 4-3-3 formation but switched up the personnel, as he had said in his pre-match press conference. He made four changes to the side that played in Montenegro on Friday evening: Quagliata in place of Parisi at left-back; Rovella and Fagioli in place of Portanova and Ricci in midfield, either side of Esposito; Yeboah replaced Lucca in an attacking three with Colombo and Vignato on the wings.

Italy created the first chance of the game in the sixth minute as Yeboah’s header was punched clear by Bosnia goalkeeper Cetkovic before Okoli was dispossessed in the box (10’). Italy kept pushing and took the lead four minutes later through Rovella, who latched onto the loose ball in the box and fired past Cetkovic with a powerful effort to score his first goal for the team.

Spurred on by the opener, the Azzurrini continued to play well. Rovella shone as he was all over the pitch, as did Yeboah and Colombo who added a bit of unpredictability to the runs in behind. Carnesecchi had to be alert in the 29th minute though when he denied Basic and then Lukic. Two minutes later, Esposito swung in the corner for Colombo, whose header was deflected behind by a defender.

The hosts kept up the pressure in the second half and came close on the hour mark through Quagliata. In the 63rd minute, Nikic blocked Colombo’s shot and Yeboah couldn’t turn in the rebound.

In his efforts to alleviate the pressure, Nicolato sent on Parisi and Ricci for Quagliata and Esposito, then Cancellieri for Colombo. Portanova replaced Rovella late on and Cambiaghi came on his debut, replacing Vignato. Bosnia pushed for the equaliser. Italy needed to dig deep and when this team needs to grit their teeth and put in the hard yards, they do just that. In the end, they deserved to take all three points and Nicolato was pleased with the performance: “This is a big win, which was a product of maximum effort” he said after the full-time whistle. “We weren’t at full fitness but we did really well to bring home a big result. All of our remaining games will be difficult and we need to move forward with humility and determination in the hope that we can be fully fit come June. We need to thank these boys as they are conscious of their issues and in a tricky time for Italian football. We need to improve but I’m happy with this group’s capacity to overcome trials.”