Four Napoli players were in Roberto Mancini’s squad for Italy’s friendly against Albania on Wednesday.
Alex Meret made his first start in goal for the Azzurri. There was little the Napoli goalkeeper could do to stop Ardian Ismajli’s header in the 16th minute, but he was solid after that. Meret was particularly busy in the second half, stopping low efforts from Marash Kumbulla, Odise Roshi and Xhuliano Skuka. The shot-stopper made his best save in the 76th minute, when Ermir Lenjani picked out Roshi at the second post. Meret stood his ground and kicked away the shot from a tight angle. He was also helped by the frame of the goal on two separate occasions.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo played the full 90 minutes, playing as a right wing-back in Mancini’s 3-4-3 formation. It didn’t take long for the Napoli’s captain to find the back of the goal. Only four minutes after Ismaijli put Albania ahead, Di Lorenzo snuck past Lenjani to poke in the cross that was teased into the area by Vincenzo Grifo.
Grifo was the man of the match, scoring a brace and hitting the cross bar after assisting Di Lorenzo. Grifo’s first was assisted by Giacomo Raspadori, who played 90 minutes as Mancini’s No. 9. Raspadori plucked the ball out of the air, dribbled past Kumbulla and squared the ball to Grifo, who curled the shot around goalkeeper Etrit Berisha.
Matteo Politano was in the squad but did not make an appearance. Meanwhile, the Albania squad, coached by former Napoli coach Edy Reja, featured a number of Serie A players, including ex-Napoli and current Lazio player, Elseid Hysaj, as well as Inter’s Ktistjan Asllani, Empoli’s Nedim Bajrami and Ardian Ismajli, Torino’s Etrit Berisha and Roma’s Marash Kumbulla.
Italy will be back in action on Sunday to take on Austria.
