Italy overturns France and predictions, is now first in the Nations League

"The boys want to redeem themselves from everything that has happened: we have to work, but little by little we will get to the finish line." These are the first words of the Italian coach, Roberto Mancini, after Italy's victory over France at the Meazza. "Great performance: the boys were very good. I'm very happy for them and for the people who had fun". It started with Donnarumma's mistake for the 0-1: "These are mistakes that shouldn't happen, we remained calm and deservedly won. After the deficit it could have ended in a goleada, but instead we remained calm and deservedly won."

GOALS and HIGHLIGHTS

ITALY-France 3-1 In the 75th minute Pio Esposito extends for the Azzurri on a penalty kick

ITALY-France 2-1 in the 63rd minute goal by Frattesi gives the Azzurri the lead

In the 60th minute Sebastiano Esposito misses a penalty

ITALY-France 1-1 The Azzurri equalized in the 26th minute with Pio Esposito

Italy- FRANCE 0-1 Olise unlocks the match in the 10th minute

A barrage of boos welcomed the Marseillaise team to the San Siro before Italy-France in the Nations League. A protest that was not appreciated by all the fans present in the stadium who responded with long applause until the end of the French anthem. Shortly before, an ovation from the entire stadium had accompanied a video on Franco Baresi and Sandro Mazzola, Italian legends who recently passed away.

Belgium wins in Türkiye 2-1, and temporarily rises to second place in group A1 of the Nations League, the same as Italy, behind France. In Izmir, Türkiye took the lead with a great goal from a free kick by Arda Guler in the 20th minute of the first half. Belgium reacts immediately, equalizing in the 27th minute with De Bruyne and overtaking in the 30th minute with De Ketalaere

THE MATCH

Courageous and capable of suffering and fighting. Mancini 2.0's young Italy surprises and makes San Siro and the fans rejoice, with signs of recovery and optimism for the future. He did it by beating a beautiful France 3-1 in comeback, at times unstoppable, but who liked themselves too much and in the end was betrayed by a bit of presumption.

After having governed the first part of the match, with a beautiful goal from Olise who took advantage of an error by Donnarumma and left the Bleus fearing a goleada, Zidane's team made a surprise catch before the half hour mark with Pio Esposito, at the end of a very rare action by the Azzurri who in the first half barely managed to get past their half of the pitch. In the second half Italy was a completely different matter, managing to respond blow for blow to the French actions. First he misses the penalty with Sebastiano Esposito, takes the lead with Frattesi and then scores a hat-trick from eleven meters with Pio Esposito who scores a brace, also erasing the shadow of the missed penalty in Zenica. And so Italy won 3-1, against all odds, surprising and making San Siro happy, taking the lead with 10 points in group A1 of the Nations League, ahead of the match against Belgium in Brussels where a draw will be enough for them to mathematically qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament. With a victory, they will even be in first place, an unthinkable goal after starting with a defeat at the Olimpico by the Belgians, and considering the dark moment in Italian football.

Before the kick-off, videos of Sandro Mazzola and Franco Baresi, two legends of the Italian national team who passed away earlier this year after glorious careers with Inter and Milan respectively, are shown on the giant screen at the Meazza, where Formula 1 world champion Kimi Antonelli is also in the stands (celebrated by the public during the interval). It's raining in San Siro and the whistles also arrive at the Marseillaise, while Italy's starting line-up is as expected: the Esposito brothers, Pio and Sebastiano, will start in attack alongside Nicolò Cambiaghi. Giorgio Scalvini will join Alessandro Bastoni in the center of the Italian defense. Frattesi plays in midfield with Tonali and Barella. Kayode confirmed on the right. Zidane without Mbappé and Dembelé fields Olise, Doué and Barcola. In defense there are Jacquet and Truffert. Lively match from the start with the first treacherous action by the French with a conclusion by Doué who, having entered the area on the left, takes the outside of the net.

First lunge that starts with continuous pressure from Zidane's team which squeezes Italy in the area. In the 10th minute, Les Bleus took the lead with Olisè who took advantage of an incorrect clearance from Donnarumma, flew towards the area, jumped Bastoni and beat the Azzurri goalkeeper with his low shot to the near post. The Azzurri try to react but France is lethal on the counterattack, repeatedly coming close to doubling their lead with Douè, Barcola (the whole first move is fantastic and ends on the post) and Olisè uncontainable. When the French 2-0 seems inevitable, Italy's equalizer arrives like a bolt from the blue, in a rare relief action: acceleration on the left by Cambiaghi who wins the duel with Malo Gusto, the Italian number 19 from the height of the baseline crosses low to the near post where Pio Esposito anticipates Upamecano with the tip and equalizes the scores.

Having reached the draw, the Azzurri took courage and the match became more balanced with Italy able to respond to the attacks of Zidane's team, always constantly dangerous thanks to the quality of their attack until the end of the first 45'. No changes in the second half where Italy started well by appearing in Maignan's area several times, while the French were good at stealing the ball in the three quarters and always making themselves treacherous, even hitting the post with Cherki. On a restart by Italy Cambiaghi targets Malo Gusto, enters the area, is brought down and for the referee it is a penalty. He beats Sebastiano Esposito, 'taking away' the shot from his brother Pio, but shoots high, wasting a golden opportunity. A few minutes, a few substitutions (Dimarco and Vergara on the pitch, Seba Esposito and Cambiaghi out) and Italy's 2-1 really arrives: Dimarco, as soon as he comes on, gains the bottom and puts a tight ball on the near post finding Frattesi free, a first intention conclusion from the Lazio player which makes Maignan dry.

Azzurri transformed and capable of overpowering the French who have become distant relatives of those of the first half: on a new attack from Italy, France does not clear the area and Vergara manages to anticipate Da Cunha by penetrating on the right, the Azzurri winger is knocked down by Upamecano, it is another penalty for Italy, this time scored by Pio Esposito who scores a brace. From here on, the Azzurri did not let their guard down and managed to complete a match that at the beginning seemed prohibitive and, instead, in the end they proved Mancini's choices right and now in command of the Nations League group, he has his destiny in his pocket which also means a much more promising future.