42′ BLOCK! Castrovilli’s header is brought down by Fabbri, but he gets caught on the ball by Biraghi in his own box. The left-back hits an early shot across goal, but Battistini throws himself in front of it to make an important block.
40′ San Marino are breaking quickly when they get on the ball in an attempt to catch out Italy’s defenders and Tomassini drives forward down the right again. He drills a low cross into the box but it’s blocked by Biraghi and the resulting corner comes to nothing.
38′ It’s clumsy by Hirsch as he tries Bernardeschi just outside the box and Italy have a free-kick in a dangerous position. Bernardeschi steps up to take it, but he curls his shot into the wall and Battistini heads it away.
36′ It’s a great flowing move by Italy as Grifo squares it to Bernardeschi on the edge of the box and he turns before slotting it into Castrovilli. He tries to flick it past Benedettini, but the keeper manages to hold onto it.
34′ FERRARI SCORES! And just like that, it’s 2-0! Grifo’s corner is punched away by Benedettini, but it’s a poor clearance by the keeper as he gives it straight to Ferrari and he volleys his shot past the scrambling keeper and into the back of the net. 2-0 Italy!
33′ Cristante goes long for Castrovilli this time, but the San Marino defenders aren’t giving him any time on the ball. He can’t carve out any space for a cross and gets lucky as a loose touch bounces off Rossi for a corner.
G. Castrovilli
Assist
31′ Castrovilli times his run perfectly to get on the end of Mancini’s lofted pass before cushioning it down for Bernardeschi.
F. Bernardeschi
Goal
31′ ITALY LEAD! It’s chested down by Castrovilli to Bernardeschi on the edge of the box and he takes a touch before getting his head up. Three San Marino defenders are closing him down, but he hits it early and drills it past Benedettini and into the bottom corner. 1-0 Italy!
29′ Italy have a problem here after Bernardeschi stays down holding his ankle after being tripped by Rossi. He slowly gets back to his feet after getting treatment and it looks like he’s going to carry on.
27′ Toloi’s throughball is cut out by Rossi, but it’s a poor clearance by him as he gifts it to Pessina. He tries to spread play out wide to Castrovilli to get in behind San Marino but sends his pass straight out for a throw-in.
25′ Cristante threads the ball through for Castrovilli and it looks like he’s through on goal until a heavy touch takes him wide. Grandoni is staying tight to him and he has no space to pull it back across the box for Bernardeschi.
23′ CLOSE! Grifo curls another great cross into the far post, but Mancini’s header bounces against Fabbri. Kean sticks out a leg to try and help it in but misses and the ball bounces just wide of the target.
22′ Bernardeschi drives forward through the middle, but he just slips when he gets to the edge of the box. He tries to keep hold of it under pressure from Rossi, but he can’t get the better of the defender.
20′ It’s another good spell of possession for Italy as they patiently work it upfield, switching it from right to left to open up some space. Pessina manages to pull away from Battistini to swing in a cross, but it’s blocked by Fabbri at the near post.
18′ San Marino are starting to cause Italy a few problems on the counter-attack at the moment as Tomassini finds himself in more space down the right. He drives forward before fizzing a dangerous cross into the box and Cragno rushes off his line to hold it.
16′ San Marino win a free-kick just inside Italy’s half and Rossi swings a good cross into the box. It’s cleared by Mancini, but only as far as Tomassini, but he’s off-balance as he hits the shot and it curls high and wide of the far post.
15′ Tomassini makes a great run down the right for San Marino and he does well to hold off Biraghi to get into the box. He can’t find space for a cross, so has to backtrack and eventually hits the ball against the defender for a corner.
13′ Mancini plays a great long ball over the top to pick out Bernardeschi, who times his run perfectly to stay onside. He brings it down before drilling a low shot on goal, but it’s straight at Benedettini down the middle.
11′ San Marino have a chance to mount a rare attack here as they venture out of their own half and Golinucci tries to thread it through for Tomassini on the right. It’s overhit though and Biraghi is happy to see it roll out of play.
9′ Benedettini is called into action again as Pessina drives forward down the left before drilling a low cross into the middle of the box. The keeper rushes off his lines and gets there ahead of Kean to punch it away.
7′ SAVE! It’s Grifo that swings the corner into the box this time and Mancini has a free header in the middle. He nods it down into the ground and the bounce almost catches Benedettini out, but he manages to tip it over the crossbar.
6′ Grifo’s flick almost plays in Kean in the middle of the box, but Rossi makes an important block to take it away from him. Benedettini rushes off his line but is beaten to it by Bernardeschi, though he can’t keep it in play.
4′ Bernardeschi’s corner is cleared by Fabbri in the middle, but only as far as Castrovilli on the edge of the box. He cuts out to the right before pulling it back for Grifo, but it’s short and the winger ends up catching Rossi in his attempt to reach it.
2′ It’s Italy that are seeing a lot of the ball early on here and they’re patiently playing out from the back. San Marino are sitting deep in their own half and are making it difficult for the hosts to get forward at the moment.
1′ Nanni gets the game underway for San Marino!
The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away.
The sides have met three times previously, all in friendly matches. Italy came out on top with big wins in all of those, winning 4-0 in 1992 and 2013, while their last meeting ended in an 8-0 victory.
There are just two differences to the side that Franco Varella last selected for San Marino against Albania, with Hirsch and Grandoni both coming in. Vitaioli, who has scored for his country, starts on the bench.
Roberto Mancini gives some of the fringe players a chance today ahead of his decision of who to keep in his 26-man squad for the Euros. Kean gets a chance to lead the line, while Gianluca Mancini, Toloi, Pessina and Bernardeschi are the only players to stay in from Italy’s last match against Lithuania.
SAN MARINO SUBS: Cristian Brolli, Michael Battistini, Simeone Benedettini, David Tomassini, Alessandro Golinucci, Matteo Vitaioli, Alessandro D’Addario, Lorenzo Lunadei, Michele Cevoli, Alex Stimac, Kevin Zonzini.
SAN MARINO STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Elia Benedettini; Manuel Battistini, Filippo Fabbri, Dante Rossi, Andrea Grandoni; Mirko Palazzi, Marcello Mularoni; Fabio Tomassini, Adolfo Hirsch, Enrico Golinucci; Nicola Nanni.
ITALY SUBS: Alessandro Florenzi, Nicolo Barella, Salvatore Sirigu, Andrea Belotti, Ciro Immobile, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Matteo Politano, Alessandro Bastoni, Domenico Berardi, Manuel Locatelli, Lorenzo Insigne, Alex Meret.
ITALY STARTING XI (4-3-3): Alessio Cragno; Rafael Toloi, Gianluca Mancini, Gian Marco Ferrari, Cristiano Biraghi; Gaetano Castrovilli, Bryan Cristante, Matteo Pessina; Federico Bernardeschi, Moise Kean, Vincenzo Grifo.
Italy’s preparations for the Euros start here with their first of two friendly games before the start of the tournament. Roberto Mancini’s side are unbeaten in their last 25 games in all competitions (W20 D5), winning the last six on the bounce. Their last loss came in the Nations League against Portugal in September 2018. They face a San Marino side that are winless in their last nine in all competitions, but they have drawn two of those (L7).
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the international friendly between Italy and San Marino at the Sardegna Arena!
G. Ferrari
Goal