Italy scored either side of the half-time break for a 2-0 win over Zambia in a match featuring two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup debutants in San Jose.
Player of the match Annamaria Serturini, who had started the match on the bench, was the heroine bagging both goals in the first match at the National Stadium in the capital.
The match, perhaps predictably, saw both teams make a nervous start though it was Italy making better use of the ball.
Le Azzurrine’s Valentina Bergamaschi lifted the volume immediately in the cavernous arena with a first-minute strike but it was not a portent for an action-packed half.
Chances were few and far between in the opening stanza with only Manuela Giugliano firing a wayward strike on the half-hour mark.
However, four minutes before the interval, Italy broke the deadlock with Serturini beating goalkeeper Hazel Nali to the ball to score with a low shot into an empty net.
Eight minutes after the break the Brescia forward was at it again, as the Zambian defence misjudged a through ball allowing Serturini to win another duel with Nali.
The Italian domination continued to grow with Zambia struggling for fluency and largely unable to build any meaningful attacks.
Source: FIFA.COM
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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