Caretaker boss Silvio Baldini raised eyebrows when he called up Italy’s youngest – and certainly most inexperienced – squad in over a century, and the side with just three prior call-ups performed just about as expected in a narrow win over Luxembourg.
And after a promising start, particularly from the likes of debutant Jeff Ekhator, it was one of those former full internationals who drew first blood.
Naturally, it was Genoa youngster Ekhator who provided the assist, finding Francesco Pio Esposito, who poked into the bottom corner from the edge of the area via a deflection for his fifth international goal in just his ninth cap.
Any improvement from Greece – who will also be watching this summer’s tournament from home – was muted, and Italy continued to press with Esposito testing Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The second half wasn’t much better, with Luca Koleosho coming in at the far post to touch Seydou Fini’s cross onto the bar.
The game reached something of a stalemate after that, and when the hosts did have an opening, Tasos Douvikas was hauled down by Luca Reggiani when about to race through, resulting in a red card for the 18-year-old defender just 13 minutes into his international debut.
It was easy to see why Greece had found the net in just one of their last four matches, as they continued to find things difficult despite the personnel advantage.
The efforts of Christos Tzolis and Christos Zafeiris to make a difference were in vain, especially that of the latter, who rocketed against the upright with just over five minutes remaining.
The Galanolefki were ultimately only able to trouble Gianluigi Donnarumma in the final moments – to no avail – and the Heraklion crowd was left wondering what was next for the Euro 2004 champions.
This was always set to be a gloomy international break for Italy, who were still haunted by March’s defeat to Bosnia & Herzegovina, but they can at least have faith that the next generation is in good shape.
No win in five paints a bleaker picture for Greece, who will be 14 years on from their last major tournament appearance by the time Euro 2028 comes around.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pietro Comuzzo (Italy)
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