National cup

National Stadium
Spectators: 10302 (Terracing: 7727, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) U21 Italy's Roberto Mancini started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Roberto Mancini fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 3rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jake Leonard having to interfere. 5 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Odín Eye came free, but Anfilogino Rivera reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Shaun Kirkpatrick could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 6th minute of the match, but Anfilogino Rivera made a huge save. In the 6th match minute, U21 Italy was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Camillo Caiola to maneuver through the defense. Jake Leonard took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Roberto Mancini, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Anfilogino Rivera showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Timo Werner in the 15th minute of the match. Jake Leonard made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Roberto Mancini in the 17th minute of play. 18 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Timo Werner came free, but Anfilogino Rivera reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 19th minute Albert Gaardahl shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jake Leonard saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Shaun Kirkpatrick's late challenge caught a U21 Italy's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Shaun Kirkpatrick helped the player get up and apologised. The audience was convinced that Roberto Mancini's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Jake Leonard was relentless in the 21st minute of the game. An unexpectedly hard shot by Albert Gaardahl in the 24th minute of play forced U21 England's goalkeeper Jake Leonard to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Jake Leonard took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Albert Gaardahl, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 38 minutes into the game, Roberto Mancini cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-3. Jake Leonard was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. The audience was convinced that Roberto Mancini's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Jake Leonard was relentless in the 49th minute of the game. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-3 lead.

U21 England made a substitution. Paolo Di Canio replaced Alan Campbell. Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Tommy Hanley to make the kick off. 57 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goal looked a bit too open when Tommy Hanley came free, but Anfilogino Rivera reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. 59 minutes into the game, U21 Italy's Camillo Caiola nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Jake Leonard made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-4. An unexpectedly hard shot by Albert Gaardahl in the 66th minute of play forced U21 England's goalkeeper Jake Leonard to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, U21 England's Jake Leonard got control of the ball when Amerigo Giacomozzi tried to sneak it across the goal line. U21 Italy's Anfilogino Rivera played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Shaun Kirkpatrick in the 75th minute of play. The audience thought a goal was coming when Amerigo Giacomozzi got free with Jake Leonard in the 77th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Jake Leonard made a fantastic save in the 77th minute, when Amerigo Giacomozzi sent off a good shot on target. U21 England made a substitution. Pierre Blair replaced Tommy Hanley. U21 Italy's Demetrio Mazzei was substituted for Carter Picozzi. After a rather tough play, U21 Italy's Camillo Caiola got a free kick in the 79th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Shaun Kirkpatrick in the 80th minute of play forced U21 Italy's goalkeeper Anfilogino Rivera to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a rather tough play, U21 Italy's Jerry Cala got a free kick in the 81st minute. After some careless play in the U21 Italy defense, Olivér Marty kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Anfilogino Rivera. The U21 Italy fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Anfilogino Rivera should have stopped the shot. Jake Leonard took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Eugenio Meo, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. U21 England's Jake Leonard played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Albert Gaardahl in the 88th minute of play. In the 90th minute of the match U21 Italy got a corner. U21 England's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Camillo Caiola ran over to the corner to take the kick. Albert Gaardahl struck a weak shot in the 95th minute. Jake Leonard didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for U21 Italy. 96 minutes into the match, Pierre Blair notched a goal, 2-4, to the right of U21 Italy's Anfilogino Rivera. Anfilogino Rivera was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it.