The Three Lions Edge Out Italy

Tom Clev­er­ley

The Three Lions earned them­selves a close vic­tory over Cesare Prandelli´s Italy at The Stade de Suisse Wank­dorf in Berne on Wed­nes­day to record their first tri­umph over The Azurri in fif­teen years. The Italian team took an early lead through dynamic mid­field man Daniele De Rossi, but ended up los­ing the con­test 2–1 in Switzerland. 

Manchester United mid­field player Tom Clev­er­ley made his senior inter­na­tional debut from the start yes­ter­day and the prom­ising young­ster impressed in the middle of the park along with his fel­low club team­mate Michael Car­rick and the ever com­posed Frank Lam­pard. To top it all, White Hart Lane favour­ite Jer­main Defoe emerged from the dark obscur­ity of the substitutes´bench to notch the win­ner for Eng­land in the clos­ing stages of the match. The Itali­ans scored first, how­ever, as cap­tain and play­maker Daniele De Rossi headed home a corner from Bologna´s Aless­andro Diamanti in the 15th minute of the inter­na­tional friendly match. Roy Hodgson´s Eng­land play­ers hit back after 27 minutes of play, though, when a Frank Lam­pard corner was met by Good­ison Park defender Phil Jagielka whose diving header went past Italy net cus­todian Sal­vatore Sirigu and into the back of the net. With some ten minutes remain­ing of the encounter, Manchester City mid­fielder James Mil­ner even­tu­ally found second half sub­sti­tute Jer­main Defoe on the left hand side of the pen­alty area from where the Tot­ten­ham Hot­spur striker unleashed a unstop­pable shot into the far corner to give The Three Lions a fully deserved 2–1 win over Italy. Eng­land Team: Jack But­land, Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Ash­ley Young, Adam John­son, Frank Lam­pard, Michael Car­rick, Tom Clev­er­ley, Andy Carroll.

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