Veratti rescues Italy

Italy escaped with a 1-1 draw away to an impressive Netherlands, thanks to a stoppage time goal to substitute Marco Veratti. It allows Italy to maintain their unbeaten friendly record against the Oranje in friendlies, which now stretches to 13 matches (6 wins and 7 draws).

Both Louis van Gaal and Cesare Prandelli - coaches of the Netherlands and Italy respectively - fielded largely inexperienced sides as they look to build depth leading into the World Cup qualifiers later this year.

Van Gaal's side were the lesser experienced with 7 players in the starting lineup under 23, but started the stronger of the two sides. Robin Van Persie almost capitalized on the early pressure with a shot on target in the 18th minute, but it was saved by the legs of Gianluigi Buffon.

The Dutch almost scored in the 26th minute with Buffon having to make back-to-back saves. They were finally rewarded in the 33rd minute through a clever piece of ball control by Jeremain Lens who converted from short range to make it 1-0.

The Italians made two subs at halftime with Alessandro Diamanti and Alessandro Florenzi replacing Antonio Candreva and Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo showed glimpses of his best in the first half but it seems as though Prandelli wants to give a few of the other players some game time.

The Oranje continued to control possession in the second half as Italy continued to lack cohesion and rhythm.

The introduction of Arjen Robben for the Dutch added some more fluidity to their game, and on several occasion he got the better of the Italian defensive line, combining with players such as Lens and Maher. Yet again, the ever-reliable Buffon held strong, producing some fantastic saves to keep the Italians in the game even if they did no deserve to be.

Controversial Italian striker Mario Balotelli showed his frustration with half an hour to go by violently kicking the ball into the advertising hoardings. This was met with jeers from the crowd. He was soon replaced by AS Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo.

It should have been game over in the 87th minute. Adam Maher put Dirk Kuyt into open space, but he duffed his shot into Buffon's gloves.

Osvaldo made his presence felt in the 30 minutes he played. His pair of headers were off target, and the second one in the 88th minute really should have been converted after a brilliant right cross from Ignazio Abate.

Alberto Gilardino added to the strong finish by forcing Dutch goalkeeper Krul into a quick save.

When watching the last 10 minutes of this match you would think it was Italy who had played the better of the two teams throughout the 90 minutes, which was far from being the case.


The Azzurri were rewarded for their late attacking pressure when Gilardino combined well with 20 year old Marco Veratti, who superbly scooped the ball over Krul to give Italy a draw at the death.

That is how the match finished and I'm sure Van Gaal and his troops will feel like they let that one slip.


To conclude, I believe that Veratti it set for a huge future. At such a young age he has excellent technical passing skills, has a sharp turn, and is very quick at beating his tackler. When Andrea Pirlo eventually does retire, Italy will definitely miss his talent, but at least there is someone in waiting to take his place.