Italy dominate against Turkey in Euro 2020 qualifier

Italy opened their Euro 2020 campaign in spectacular fashion as they eased past Turkey in the tournament opener.

The Azzurri dominated from the start and opened the scoring through Merih Demiral’s own goal. Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne netted as the Italians claimed a 3-0 victory in front of their own fans.

Opera tenor Andrea Bocelli provided the perfect soundtrack for the Italians with a rendition of Nessun Dorma during the opening ceremony, a nod to the Italia ’90 World Cup, and the match was as important as one more step towards normality across the continent as it was for the football itself.

16000 fans watched Italy probe their Turkish counterparts throughout the first half. Giorgio Chiellini went closest with a header from a corner which forced a superb save from Ugucan Cakir but the Azzurri failed to find the net despite having 14 first-half shots.

Italy finally broke the deadlock after the break when Demiral could only chest the ball into his own net from Domenico Berardi’s cross, before Immobile made it two when he struck after Leonardo Spinazzola’s shot was parried by the keeper.

Insigne completed the scoring 11 minutes from time when he curled the ball beautifully into the bottom right corner.

Both teams are in action again on Wednesday as Italy meet Switzerland in Rome, while Turkey head to Baku to play Wales.

Wales and Switzerland face each other on Saturday afternoon.

Cover Photo: “UEFA EURO 2020 Trophy, Football Championship” by wuestenigel is licensed under CC BY 2.0