Italy hold on to thwart Austria

Italy made the most of two early goals to defeat UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round Group 5 hosts Austria in the opening day of the mini-tournament.

Comeback denied
Giacomo Beretta gave Italy a fourth-minute lead and within ten minutes Alberto Libertazzi had made it 2-0. David Alaba reduced arrears on 22 minutes after good work from Tobias Kainz, who had previously hit the woodwork, but although Lukas Gunzinam headed on to the crossbar midway through the second half there was no equaliser for the 1,500 crowd to celebrate in Stegersbach.

'Not over'
"We fought until the very end, but we lost it all in the first 15 minute," said Austria coach Hermann Stadler. "But it is still not over, now we want to win remaining two games and see what happens." On Sunday his side play Georgia, who beat Italy's next opponents Scotland 1-0.