Azzurre beat Iceland in first of friendly double-header

Italy beat Iceland 1-0 in an international women’s friendly on Saturday afternoon at Coverciano.

The two countries will face off twice during this international break, and the Azzurre got the better of the Northern European nation in the first of the double-header.

Juventus’ Arianna Caruso got the game’s only goal deep into the second half, taking advantage of some slack defending from Iceland.

Azzurre boss Milena Bertolini took advantage of the friendly to blood some youngsters in the team, though there was to be no debut for Empoli’s Norma Cinotti – who had spoken to Forza Italian Football about her dreams of representing her country just days before being named in the squad.

Roma’s Angelica Soffia was handed her first Azzurre appearance, while Lucia Di Guglielmo was also selected.

Italy started on the front foot but failed to find a breakthrough early on. Iceland did later grow into the game, but Caruso’s strike in the 70th minute proved to be the only goal of the game.

The two sides will meet again on Tuesday.