Youthful Denmark no match for Italy

Denmark 0-4 Italy
Italy completed their preparations for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship with a convincing 4-0 win in Farum against a young Denmark side.

Early double
With the hosts fielding players who will be eligible for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the most experienced Azzurrini side took control of the game with two goals in 22 minutes by strikers Mario Balotelli and Robert Acquafresca. Substitute Daniele Dessena added the third soon after the interval, while defender Andrea Ranocchia completed the scoring with three minutes to play.

Serbia starter
Casiraghi started with a 4-3-3 formation which should be very similar to the one for the opening game against Serbia on 16 June – Andrea Consigli played between the posts, Marco Motta, Marco Andreolli, Salvatore Bocchetti and Domenico Criscito in defence, Paolo De Ceglie, Luca Cigarini and Claudio Marchisio in midfield with Balotelli, Acquafresca and Sebastian Giovinco in attack.

Strikers register
Italy took the lead after only 13 minutes courtesy of a precise free-kick by Balotelli. Nine minutes later, the FC Internazionale striker's shot was parried by Danish goalkeeper Jonas Lössl, Cagliari Calcio forward Acquafresca was first on to the rebound and made it two from close range as Italy continued to create a series of good opportunities to score on the counterattack.

Numerous changes
During the interval, Casiraghi made seven substitutions but it took only two minutes for Dessena to find the net with a clever chip after a brilliant defence-splitting pass by Giovinco. Italy continued to control the game and Casiraghi made another three substitutions without forcing his side to lose momentum, Lössl fumbling a corner from the right to allow defender Ranocchia to complete the scoring on 87 minutes.