France's First Unusable Minute Goal, Italy Wins The Match

Italy rose to beat France 3-1 in the UEFA Nations League match. (X/@Azzurri)

JAKARTA - France took the lead with a quick goal, but Italy won the match at the UEFA Nations League. In the League A Group 2 duel at the Parc des Prince Stadium, Paris, Saturday, September 7, 2024 in the morning WIB, Italy rose to beat France 3-1.

France may set a record by scoring the fastest goal in the history of the Nations League. Yes, the game has only been running for a minute, Bradley Barcola winger has broken into the goal of his Paris Saint-Germain colleague, Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Only the quick goal was useless. France failed to maintain performance. Even though they came down with the best formation, including relying on Kylian Mbappe in the front line, they were unable to add goals.

On the other hand, Italy managed to get up. Left behind with a quick goal did not make them waver.

They got up to win the away game. Coach Luciano Spalletti was able to transform the failure into a successful passing of the first test in the Nations League.

France immediately kicked off with an offensive game. The result was real because they were ahead when the game just started. Barcola took advantage of the mistake of Giovanni defender Di Lorenzo who was about to throw the ball away. Without any difficulties, he broke into the Italian goal.

But Italy quickly rose after trailing 1-0. France experienced a different situation. Despite playing at home, Les Bleus actually experienced a decline. Moreover, Italy is able to excel in possession of the ball.

In the seventh minute, Italy almost equalized. But Davide Frattesi's header hit the post. Next, he got another chance. But Frattesi's shot still failed.

However, this is a signal if Gli Azzurri is able to rise. With the possession ball reaching 60%, Italy has no difficulty building attacks. Evidently, their efforts paid off in the 30th minute.

Wing-back Federico Dimarco successfully broke the deadlock. Receiving an assist from Sandro Tonali who returned to the national team after the end of the ban on playing due to the football gambling case, the Inter Milan defender fired a beautiful volley to break into Mike Maignan's goal.

The score turned into a 1-1 draw. There were additional goals even though France had a number of chances until the first half was over.

Entering the second half France tried to get up to control the game. Didier Deschamps' team is trying to suppress the Italian defense. However, Italy's backline is solid enough and able to maintain defense well.

Even the visitors took the lead. This time, it was Italy's turn to score a quick goal. The second half match had only been running for six minutes, Frattesi finally did not repeat the mistake and managed to give Italy a 2-1 lead.

Starting from the attack built by Giacomo Raspadori. Through good cooperation, Raspadori then gave the ball to Mateo Retegui. He then made an assist that was well completed by Frattesi.

After winning, Italy still dominates the game. They consistently play openly so that France must strengthen its defense so as not to be missed.

It's just that their efforts failed again. Maignan's goal conceded for the third time after Raspadori completed assists from Destiny Udogie in the 74th minute. The score changed to 3-1 for Italy and lasted until the end of the match.

The victory brought Italy to the top of Group 1 standings. By pocketing the third point, Italy actually has the same points as Belgium, who also won with the same score 3-1 over Israel.

However, the victory in the away match made Italy perched at the top. Meanwhile, Belgium is ranked second in the standings.