After the defeat in the first of the two friendlies matches in  Salsomaggiore Terme, the Italian national futsal team redeems itself in a big way by surviving a late challenge, in the match against the powerful Iran team, ranked seventh in the world.

Italy’s approach to the game was promising, so much so that in the middle of the first half  Gui, perfectly assisted by the usual Merlim unlocks the challenge with a flying torpedo. The second goal comes at a tight turning point, with the same Gui serving Caponigro who, as soon as he enters, invents a brilliant backheel shot that is worth doubling. 2-0 for Italy.  For the Feldi Eboli player, it is the first goal with the Italian national team shirt. The first half of the Bellarte team was at the limits of perfection, but Iran is a great team and in the final minutes manages to equalize the match from the double of the regular scorer Abbasi.

In the second half, however, it is still a great Italfutsal, with Bellarte playing the wild card Berthod: the Goalkeeper of the Under 19 plays with a great personality in the second half. In the fifth minute, Nicolodi finishes a super action of Musumeci to put Italy ahead 3-2, then right from the feet of Berthod the maneuver of the new double advantage is born. The Aosta goalkeeper throws with a perfect assist, for De Oliveira who pushes the ball into the net. The score is now 4-2 for Italy which tries to control the pace of the game, but Iran activates the powerplay movement, always managing with Abbasi to bring the score back to 4-3. That was a warning that Iran was on the brink of a comeback. Merlim and his teammates defended with the grit of their teeth until the final whistle, taking home a sweet-tasting victory in the last outing before focusing on Euro 2022.

ITALY-IRAN 4-3 (2-2 p.t.)
ITALY : Pietrangelo, Murilo, Fortini, Merlim, De Oliveira, Nicolodi, Caponigro, Musumeci, De Matos, Gui, Arillo, Stringari, Podda, Berthod, Molitierno.

Coach: Massimiliano Bellarte

IRAN: Sepehr Mohammadi, AliAsghar Hassanzadeh, Hossein Tayyebi, Mehdi Karimi, Alireza Rafeipour, Hossein Derakhshani, Jamedi, Moslem Oladghobad, Ahmad Abbasi, Mohammad Shajari, Shavardazi, Salar Aghapour, Bagher Mohammadi.

Coach: Nazem Al-Sharia

GOALS: 9’06” p.t. Gui (IT), 11’02” Caponigro (IT), 19’00” and 19’49” Abbasi (IR), 5’06” s.t. Nicolodi (IT), 8’14” De Oliveira (IT), 16’12”

Abbasi (IR)

Yellow cards: Murilo (IT), Arillo (IT)

NOTES: al 12’03” s.t. Merlim (IT) fails a free throw

REFEREES: Dario Pezzuto (ITA), Giulia Colombin (ITA), Simone Zanfino (ITA) CRONO: Giovanni Zannola (ITA)