Italy had their first test ahead of EURO 2016 in a friendly against Scotland at the Ta’ Quali stadium in Malta. Conte will be naming his 23-man squad for EURO 2016 on Tuesday. Graziano Pellè scored the deciding goal and his fifth goal for Italy in a 1-0 win. Pellè also scored in the country two years ago as the Azzurri triumphed against Malta in a European Championship qualifier. More important than the result was the performance, as the Italian team put in the kind of display their manager had demanded of them. The friendly gave Conte the chance to also have a look at a few unproven talents, in order to decide who should make it into his final squad.
Thiago Motta and Montolivo began on the bench as De Rossi started the game in midfield on his return from injury. Italy lined up in a 3-5-2 formation: Buffon in goal, a back three of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini. The midfield consisted of Candreva, Florenzi, De Rossi, Giaccherini and Darmian. Pellè and Eder were Conte’s two options up front. The Azzurri started well and had two good chances after seven minutes, firstly Marshall was needed to save from Candreva’s free kick, before the ball fell to Giaccherini on the rebound, however, he couldn’t get the ball past the Scottish goalkeeper.
After a quiet start in the early stages, Italy started imposing themselves on the game and caused Scotland problems. In the 23rd minute, Candreva pulled the ball back for Giaccherini twelve yards out but he couldn’t keep his shot down. Giacherrini was in the action once again in the 28th minute, firing wide after good work from De Rossi. This was the best chance for Conte’s men in the first half, who were lacking the luck they needed to take the lead before the break. Buffon was untroubled in the Italy goal.
The team came out unchanged after the restart but with a different mentality. They pushed forwards as Scotland attempted to calm the game down. Pellè broke the deadlock in the 57th minute after a good cross-field pass from De Rossi found Eder, who was able to tee up the Southampton striker, who made no mistake from 18 yards out. Conte rung the changes following the goal, bringing on Insigne, Bernardeschi, Parolo, Jorginho and Zaza for Eder, Darmian, Candreva, De Rossi and Pellè.
Just as in the last friendly against Spain, Conte placed Bernardeschi, Insigne and Zaza together in attack. However the action took place at the other end. Scotland looked to make Italy pay for their missed chances in the 78th minute, as a mistake from the Azzurri lead to Ritchie getting the ball in the box. Fortunately he could only find the side netting though with a powerful effort.
In the 80th minute, Conte brought off Giaccherini for Bonaventura but the match continued with no further incident before the referee blew the final whistle.
