National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Ashley Ross kicked off to start the match. U21 England's Phil Porter proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 3rd minute of the match, managed to save U21 England from getting a goal against them. Phil Porter showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Anselmo Pizziolo in the 6th minute of the match. U21 England's Phil Porter played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cristian Miccoli in the 7th minute of play. The audience was convinced that Ashley Ross's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Fabio Santilli was relentless in the 11th minute of the game. In the 12thth minute of the game Ross Clark who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Italy's Fabio Santilli was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Jools Holland took the ball and in the 19 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Fabio Santilli. Fabio Santilli dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-1. With a little luck, U21 England's Phil Porter got control of the ball when Armando Corna tried to sneak it across the goal line. In the 23rd minute of the game Masao Tachibana made a throw-in which Armando Corna played forward. 27 minutes into the match, U21 England's goalkeeper Phil Porter had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Armando Corna. Phil Porter had great luck who in the 27thth minute grab hold of the ball when Cristiano Ramundo from a short distance tried to put the ball inside the right post. Fabio Santilli made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Ashley Ross in the 32nd minute of play. In the 33rd minute of the match U21 England got a corner. U21 Italy's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Marc Armstrong ran over to the corner to take the kick. The corner ended in Marc Armstrong almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but U21 Italy's Fabio Santilli did a great save. Phil Porter made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristiano Ramundo in the 35th minute of play. Phil Porter took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Cristiano Ramundo, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 38 minutes in the game, the ball went up into the seats when U21 England's Ashley Ross fired away a shot that was just a little bit too high. He walked away shaking his head. U21 England's Phil Porter played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cristian Miccoli in the 40th minute of play. U21 England's Phil Porter proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 42nd minute of the match, managed to save U21 England from getting a goal against them. Phil Porter made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristian Miccoli in the 43rd minute of play. A collision led to U21 England getting a freekick after 44 minutes play. Rupert Alsop hit a great ball. After the first half U21 England were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Cristiano Ramundo to make the kick off. Phil Porter made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristiano Ramundo in the 51st minute of play. After some careless play in the U21 England defense, Cristiano Ramundo kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Phil Porter. The U21 England fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Phil Porter should have stopped the shot. Phil Porter took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Cristian Miccoli, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In a very dangerous position, a player in U21 Italy fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 54th minute. Penalty! Fabio Santilli had in the 56thth minute some difficulties stopping Alastair Dunn's well aimed penalty as it nearly passed him on his left side, but he still managed to hold the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cristian Miccoli in the 58th minute of play forced U21 England's goalkeeper Phil Porter to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Fabio Santilli made a fantastic save in the 60th minute, when Jools Holland sent off a good shot on target. Fabio Santilli showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ashley Ross, who was totally free with the ball in the 62nd minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Cristiano Ramundo in the 64th minute of play forced U21 England's goalkeeper Phil Porter to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Phil Porter showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cristian Miccoli in the 66th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ashley Ross in the 68th minute of play forced U21 Italy's goalkeeper Fabio Santilli to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 71 minutes of play, U21 Italy's Anselmo Pizziolo made it 2-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Phil Porter was left in no man's land by his defense there! U21 England made a substitution. Dion Kerridge replaced Ashley Ross. Fabio Santilli showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Matty Tinker, who was totally free with the ball in the 80th minute. In the 81st minute, Jools Holland hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. A collision led to U21 Italy getting a freekick after 90 minutes play. Donato Berardi hit a great ball. 91 minutes into the match, U21 Italy's goalkeeper Fabio Santilli had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Matty Tinker. Matty Tinker could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 91st minute of the match, but Fabio Santilli made a huge save. U21 Italy's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.