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Attendance: 24,000
Italy national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 23, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
Finland national football team

2-0

Barella (7'), Kean (74')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Roberto Mancini excited for Moise Kean's "enormous potential"

Roberto Mancini excited for Moise Kean's
© Reuters
Kean and Nicolo Barella secured a 2-0 victory.

Italy coach Roberto Mancini hailed teenage goalscorer Moise Kean's "enormous potential" after his side's 2-0 win against Finland.

The Azzurri launched their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with victory thanks to Nicolo Barella and Kean, who scored their first goals for their country in either half at the Friuli Stadium in Udine.

Mancini was rewarded for turning to youth as Cagliari midfielder Barella, 22, and Juventus forward Kean, 19, ensured Italy scored more than one goal in a competitive game for the first time in almost two years.

"Kean has quality, enormous potential and it all depends on him," said Mancini, who also handed late teenage substitute Nicolo Zaniolo, of Roma, his senior debut.

"It's not difficult to see talent in Kean and Nicolo Zaniolo, so it's not a risk to pick them.

"There's plenty of quality among our young players. It's not difficult to understand that."

Mancini told Rai Sport that Italy's Group J rivals Finland, promoted from the third tier of the UEFA Nations League last year, proved useful opponents.

"It wasn't easy, as Finland clammed up straight away with five defenders, so it was difficult to break them down," Mancini said.

"We made a few mistakes early on, but did far better in the second half and created many more scoring opportunities."

Mancini backed Ciro Immobile to end his goal drought as the Lazio striker has now failed to score in his last 10 appearances for Italy.

Immobile did lay on an assist for Kean though and Mancini added: "When a striker seeks the goal, it doesn't arrive, but it will happen.

"It wasn't easy for Immobile, as he always has five or six players surrounding him. If anything, we should have spread the play better to create spaces."

Finland coach Markku Kanerva was impressed by Italy, but does not think Mancini's side will have it all their own way in the group.

"Italy are certainly the strongest team in the group, but Greece and Bosnia can also have a say," Kanerva was quoted on UEFA.com.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed with the result. It's a pity, especially for the first goal, because it came through a deflection."

Norwich striker Teemu Pukki squandered Finland's best chance when he mis-directed Robin Lod's cross early in the second half.

"We came close to equalising and maybe the result would have been completely different if we had scored that goal," Kanerva added. "Still, I think the result reflected what we saw on the pitch."

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Italy's Nicolo Barella in action during a Nations League match with Portugal in November 2018
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

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Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

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Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

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Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

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Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

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Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

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Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

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Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

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Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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