On Thursday, Napoli played their first friendly match at Dimaro, defeating Anaune Val di Non by a score of
6-1.
Lineups
Pierluigi Gollini, Gianluca Gaetano and Hirving Lozano were kept out of the squad as they recover from their respective injuries. Meawhile, none of the players who represented their nations after the end of the Serie A campaign were in the squad either. With Alex Meret, Amir Rrahmani, Leo Østigård, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Stanislav Lobotka, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Eljif Elmas, Piotr Zielinski, Giacomo Raspadori, Giovanni Simeone and Victor Osimhen all ruled out, Rudi Garcia leaned heavily on his squad players and primavera players for the friendly against Anaune Val di Non.
First Half
Second Half
First Half
Amongst the standouts of the first half were Giuseppe Ambrosino and Antonio Vergara, reunited for the first time since the 2021/22 Primavera campaign. The pair combined in the 11th minute after Vergara intercepted an Anaune pass in the opposition half. The midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Pro Verrilli, slipped the ball through to Ambrosino. The striker beat goalkeeper Alessio Gionta but not his upright on the far side of the goal.
Vergara doubled Napoli’s lead moments after the midway point of the half. The central midfielder played a perfectly weighted through-ball to Ambrosino running into the right channel. He held the ball up to allow Vergara to rejoin the attack, then picked him out at the spot. Though Vergara’s first tough was less than ideal, he composed himself before slotting a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
That gave Napoli a 2-0 lead, after opening the scoring only minutes prior. Alessio Zerbin played the ball to Mario Rui on the underlap but the defender’s shot hit the upright at the near post – the first of four times Napoli players hit the frame of the goal in the match. However, Vergara did well to get in front of the defender on the rebound to draw a foul and therefore a penalty kick. Matteo Politano stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner as Gionta guessed the wrong way.
Politano linked up well with Alessandro Zanoli on Napoli’s right wing, creating more chances than any other player in the half. The recipient of many of those changes was Zerbin, but the winger’s finishing was poor.
Of note was the position of Michael Folorunsho. With Kim’s departure and Rrahmani and Østigård unavailable, the ex-Bari man dropped from the midfield to play at centre back.
Second Half
Garcia replaced his entire squad at the break, fielding a team consisting almost entirely of Primavera players from the last two seasons.
Matteo Marchisano and Coli Saco were the standout performers in the second half. Only five minutes after the restart, Marchisano picked out Antonio Cioffi in the area. The striker retreated to head the ball down and into the bottom corner.
Marchisano mimicked the play of Di Lorenzo, constantly joining the attack from right back, largely to great effect. His only error of the half was minutes after Cioffi’s goal, when he obstructed an Anaune player in the area. Anaune converted the penalty kick to reduce Napoli’s lead to two.
However, the Napoli youngsters were unfazed by the goal. In the 57th minute, Lorenzo Russo played a clever, no-look pass to Saco at the edge of the Anaune area. The 1.97 meter tall midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Pro Vercelli alongside Vergara, calmly curled a left-footed strike into the bottom corner.
The only senior team player to feature in the second half was Mathias Olivera, who contributed on Napoli’s final two goals. In the 68th minute, the Uruguayan teed up Gennaro Iaccarino for a tiragiro into the top corner at the far post.
Then, in the 90th minute, Olivera joined the Napoli counterattack after a perfectly-timed slide tackle from Nosa Obaretin. Olivera’s initial effort was blocked but the ball ricocheted off the defender’s face and ended up in the back of the goal.
Post-Match
After the game, Garcia spoke to Sky Sport, who broadcast the match free to air.
“We now play with the tri-colour on the shirt, a well-deserved symbol, but we also have duties. We will always have to be at our best and today whoever was on the pitch gave it [their all]. However, the physical parameter is important and for this reason we didn’t take any chances with those who arrived later.”
Veteran defender Juan Jesus also addressed the media.
“Today it was important to put fuel in our legs and start finding space since we have been working hard in the gym for a week. Today we had to understand how to stay on the pitch. The important thing is that we won this friendly as well. Garcia has not asked us for much at the moment, only to keep the ball and look for spaces.”
