Pio delivers again as his goal secures victory for Italy
Team
— 13 hours agoSecond consecutive goal for the Nerazzurri striker, who proved decisive in the match between Italy and Greece. Sucic also featured as Croatia defeated Slovenia
Another busy day of international friendlies saw two Inter players in action: Pio Esposito, who was once again the match-winner for Italy, and Petar Sucic, who featured in Croatia’s victory over Slovenia.
Italy took on Greece at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion, in the second and final friendly of the international window. The Azzurri recorded another win, with the same scoreline and the same goalscorer as in their victory over Luxembourg a few days earlier. The game ended 1-0 thanks to another goal from Pio Esposito. The Inter striker was handed another start by Silvio Baldini and made the difference in Crete, scoring the only goal of the game after 18 minutes. Esposito controlled a cross from the left by Ekhator inside the box before calmly finishing with his right foot. It was his second goal in as many matches and his fifth in nine appearances for Italy. The goal also saw Esposito become just the fourth player in the national team's history to score in each of his first three starts, joining Omar Sivori (1961), Riccardo Carapellese (1947–48) and Annibale Frossi (1936). Esposito stayed on until the 87th minute before making way for Francesco Camarda.
Petar Sucic's Croatia also signed off their World Cup preparations with a win, beating Slovenia 2-1 in their final friendly before the tournament. The match, played at the Gradski Stadion Varazdin, was decided deep into stoppage time when Mario Pasalic struck the winner. Croatia had taken the lead in the 51st minute through Luka Modric, before Sporar equalised in the 83rd minute. Sucic played the entire second half after head coach Dalic brought him on at half-time to replace Kovacic.
Croatia therefore head into the World Cup on the back of a victory. The Balkan side will travel to North America in the coming days before opening their campaign on 17 June against England in Arlington.
England vs Croatia: Wednesday 17 June, 22:00 | Arlington
Panama vs Croatia: Wednesday 24 June, 01:00 | Toronto
Croatia vs Ghana:Saturday 27 June, 23:00 | Philadelphia