Alice Parisi struck a second-half penalty as Italy claimed the 2008 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship for the first time with a 1-0 win over Norway in France.After a nervous start to the game from sides unaccustomed to playing on this stage, the Azzurrine settled first and never conceded the initiative.
Parisi had just seen a free-kick deflected on to the post when she was presented with another dead ball opportunity after 71 minutes, when Pamela Gueli was checked by Gunhild Herregarden as she powered into the penalty area.
The Italy No10 had converted from the spot in the semi-final win against Sweden and repeated the feat in Tours, firing into the top corner to start the Azzurrine celebrations.
An ebullient Corrado Corradini was lost for words, struggling to "comprehended what is happening" after his side became the seventh different nation to etch their name on to the trophy.
"I still haven't really comprehended what is happening," he said. "I am very, very happy.
"The girls are a great group and I am very proud of the work I've done with them. It's a big and wonderful thing as 27 days of work has not been very easy because of the problems with school and exams and they have worked very hard.
"We are very happy because the girls really wanted to win this championship. They have been very professional during their time together."
Italy had beaten the Scandinavians with the same scoreline in the first game of the tournament, and their 3-1 victory over France secured their spot in the semi-final stage.
They lost their final group game 3-0 against Spain, but bounced back in impressive fashion as a 4-0 thrashing of Sweden saw them reach the final.
Corradini hopes this success is the start of much more to come from women's football in Italy.
"We hope this victory will help women's football in Italy. The girls are working very hard to get on the same level as other European countries. I hope soon we can have professional women's players in Italy," he concluded.
Source: UEFA
No comments:
Post a Comment