It wasn’t the usual friendly for Italy as they manhandled the team that eliminated them in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Starting with Gianluigi Donnarumma in the net and then having the very talented core of Insigne, Belotti, Immobile and Candreva in attack.
The Azzurri kept the pressure on the Uruguayn defense for the majority of the first half; so much so, Uruguay scored a goal that would have been impressive if it wasn’t in the back of their net. Lorenzo Insigne was fantastic on the left flank receiving and distributing balls inside the box to give Italy chances to score.
Marchisio and De Rossi started back in the midfield as defense midfielders. It seemed difficult at first for Marchisio as he received a yellow card for a late tackle and was later subbed out due to an injury.
In the second half Uruguay vastly improved their play after Ventura made a few subs. Once the new subs had a chance to gel on the field the game returned to it’s original showing. Italy was clearly much more athletic and skilled then the opponent and it showed with Eder putting home a chance after blowing a header earlier.
In the final minutes of the game Stephan El Shaarawy drew a foul in the box to win a penalty for Italy. Daniele De Rossi stepped up and finished off the penalty to take the Azzurri to a 3-0 victory as he passes Dino Zoff for appearances all-time for the National Team.
Italy will face off against Lichtenstein on June 11th for World Cup Qualifiers as they look to get one step closer for a bid in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.