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Stadio Ezio Scida (Crotone, Italy). Italy had faceoff against Latvia in the UEFA European U19 Championship qualification Elite round, which ended with an exciting but surprising 1-1 draw.

UEFA European U19 Championship qualification Elite round, Group 5; Italy and Latvia were drawn in a ‘quartet’, in the company of France and Spain. The Italian team was the winner of its group, in the Qualifying round – leaving Montenegro, Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina behind. On the other side, the Latvians reached the third place (behind Slovakia and Luxembourg, ahead of North Macedonia), but as the best ranked of the third-placed nations, they earned the right to represent themselves in the Elite round.

Italy, led by Alberto Bollini, started this encounter in 4-3-3 formation. A fairly confident, dominating and fluid game was played from their side and the significant individual qualities were also shown. The Italian players found themselves in quite easy positions in the sprint challenges as well as in the 1v1 situations (as we can see by the images below), and the corners were also for the team’s support – they had 14 in total (7 in each half of the game).

(Italian winger Seydou Fini, number 7 in blue, takes the advantages of his rapidity against Latvia’s left midfielder Marats Galajevs)

Latvia, under the guidance of its national team coach Viktors Dobrecovs, started the game in a 3-5-2 shape, which was often formed to a 5-3-2, out of possession / in defending (as we can see by the images below). Latvia’s tenacity and resilience were perceptible during the physical challenges; the main focus was on the disciplined and well-organized ball possessing play in the midfield. The team mentality and the players’ attitude definitely need to be highlighted.

(Examples for Latvia’s 5-3-2 off the ball / defensive system)

In the 28th minute of the game, Italy‘s winger Seydou Fini made some trouble for Latvia‘s defenders inside the box; although his cross attempt was deflected on a leg, Francesco Camarda forwarded the ball to Jeff Ekhator, who scored by it (1-0). Despite the significant dominance of Gli Azzurrini, the Latvian team equalized the score in the 87th minute, by taking its only one corner kick, which found the head of substitution player Helvijs Joksts (1-1).

(The moments at the equalizing goal – scored by Helvijs Joksts)

Here the players who stood out in this match:

Seydou Fini (Italy / SBV Excelsior, on loan from Genoa CFC), right winger born 2006.

Despite his teammate Francesco Camarda is the most known name in Italy’s squad, I would highlight Seydou Fini, who was actually the MVP for me. His outstanding rapidity mixed with great physical attributes made him a serious threat through the offense. Besides he is a technically gifted player with exceptional creativity and vision, took part in important team play activities and also focused on to make confusion inside the opposition box.

Lenards Bērziņš (Latvia / FK Metta), right centre-back born 2007.

Lenards played as RCB in the 3-defender system; demonstrated bravery and confidence while he was both on and off the ball. Prefers tight man-marking and has the ability to make long throw-ins (which turned to be a promising ‘weapon’ for his team). With his great positioning, was able to cover the passing lanes properly, as well as to make blocks on the opposition pass/cross attempts. Wasn’t afraid of making sliding tackles, not even inside the box or in other crucial spots.

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