England vs. Italy: Score and Recap for Euro U-21 Championship Match

The 2013 European Under-21 Championship hasn't featured Italy or England as winners since 2004 or 1984, respectively, but both squads have title dreams coming into this year's tournament. 

Squaring off against each other on Wednesday, the Italians got the best of the English side, as the Azzurri wound up victorious by a 1-0 score in the opener of Group A. 

A late free-kick goal from Lorenzo Insigne proved to be the difference for the Italians, who survived a late free-kick chance for Jordan Henderson, and England, to preserve the 1-0 victory and an early jump in the 2013 U-21 Euro Group standings. 

Mirror Football had the tweet as England's last chance was for naught:

The Football Globe also chimed in:

Italy controlled the pace of the game, dominated possession and managed to not let poor play in the box in the first half, limit their chances in the second. Holding the ball 61 percent of the time and converting 84 percent of their passes, the Azzurri have to be happy with the 1-0 lead over a highly-touted England side. 

The Three Lions struggled right out of the gate, but managed to survive the first half because the Italians couldn't find a way to convert chances against the English defense. Missing wide or not close at all, Italy and England would head to intermission knotted at 0-0—but not before controversy struck. 

Alessandro Florenzi was taken down in the box by the English side, but the referee did not make the decision to give the Azzurri a penalty kick and a shot at the lead before the half. The team's Twitter account, for one, was stunned:

A penalty was not given though, and the Italians would have to settle for the domination of the ball and not much else as both sides regrouped during a short breather. 

As noted by CNN's Tancredi Palmeri during the half, the Italians were lucky to avoid any kind of English comeback late in the first. Looking ahead to the second half, Palmeri thought England could mount a quick run:

He was certainly right. 

A corner kick by Jonjo Shelvey ricocheted to Craig Dawson in the first few minutes of the second half, a move that looked to net England the 1-0 lead on the Italians. The scoreboards in Tel Aviv thought the same, but the referee quickly disallowed the score to keep the scoreboard back at zero. 

BBC Sport had the tweet as England was denied the goal, maybe a make-up call for the lack of a penalty kick at the end of the first half. 

You can be the judge after watching this GIF (courtesy Feint Zebra):

Missing out on the goal, the Italians got back their moxie from the first half. Although the score would remain tied for the next 25-plus minutes, the Italians continued to push the pace and make the English defenders work without much threat of a Three Lions attack. 

Insigne finally made England pay following a terrible yellow card handed to Nathaniel Clyne. 

Clyne took down Marco Verratti just outside the box, a move that prompted Italian fans to wonder if they would be robbed a penalty for the second-straight half. Replays appeared to show that contact happened just outside the white line, and the Azzurri were awarded a free kick. 

Insigne bended the shot just past the deflected hands of goalkeeper Jack Butland to give his side the 1-0 lead—one that would not be relinquished—to give the Italians the shocking victory over an English side expected to contend at the 2013 U-21 Euros. 

England managed to make things interesting in stoppage time, as a late foul from Mattia Destro and a yellow card from Insigne gave England two chances to find the net as time was dwindling down. 

Three Lions captain Henderson took both shots at the net for the Three Lions, missing his first after it was deflected off the head of one of the Italians forming the wall. Insigne was then given a foul for early movement, and Henderson had one more chance.

He avoided the wall and found the right direction at the net, but Italian keeper Francesco Bardi made a magnificent save to avoid a late disaster as the whistle sounded to give Italy the victory. Football Italia had the post as Bardi made the save: 

Italy totaled 16 shots to England's seven, played outstanding defense and showed great poise late to hang on against England on Wednesday evening. 

Let's take a closer look at some grades, outstanding performers and what's next for both of these U-21 squads following Wednesday's action. 

*All stats courtesy WhoScored.com. 

Grades

ENGLAND		ITALY
Player	Grade	Player	Grade
Jack Butland	B	Francesco Bardi	A
Nathaniel Clyne	D	Giulio Donati	A
Craig Dawson	B+	Matteo Bianchetti	A+
Steven Caulker	C	Luca Caldirola	B+
Jack Robinson	B	Cristiano Biraghi	B
Jordan Henderson	B-	Alessandro Florenzi	A-
Jason Lowe	B-	Luca Marrone (off 87')	A-
Nathan Redmond	A-	Marco Verratti	B
Jonjo Shelvey (off 75')	B-	Lorenzo Insigne	A+
Marvin Sordell (off 65')	C-	Fabio Borini (off 78')	B-
Connor Wickham (off 82')	C+	Ciro Immobile (off 60')	C
Substitutes		Substitutes
Nathaniel Chalobah (on 65')	B+	Manolo Gabbiadini (on 60')	B
Joshua McEachran (on 75')	C+	Mattia Destro (on 78')	B-
Nathan Delfouneso (on 82')	C	Fausto Rossi (on 87')	C+

Nathan Redmond, England: A-

One of the lone bright spots for the England U-21 squad on Wednesday was the play of Nathan Redmond, who managed to create chances for England when no chances were to be had from the other nine players in the attack. 

The FA noted early on that Redmond was a bright spot for the England U-21's:

He was unable to convert in both halves, but it was so far, so good for the young Birmingham City winger as he proved to Stuart Pearce he'll need more runs with the team's top lineup moving forward. 

Lorenzo Insigne, Italy: A+

Aside from the late yellow card that kept England's shot at a draw in tact, Insigne was the best player on the pitch all afternoon. He gave England's defenders fits during runs and attacks with his feet, and wound up finding the net for the winning score, to boot. 

Although the Three Lions were missing some crucial players (Wilfried Zaha, for one), Insigne shed a light on some poor defending from the Englishmen and finally capitalized in the 79th minute after Italy was awarded a free kick. 

What's Next?

England has two more 2013 U-21 Euro matches remaining on the slate, with Israel and Norway both one the team's fixture schedule in the next week. England will take on Norway on Saturday, while waiting until next Tuesday to face the Israelis. 

Italy, too, has both of those U-21 teams on its their remaining schedule, with the first match scheduled to commence on Wednesday against Israel and the second next Tuesday against Norway. 

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