Italy failed to beat Turkey in a friendly in Bologna.
The reigning European champions failed to break Bulgaria's southern neighbors in the first of their two dress rehearsals ahead of the start of the championship in Germany on June 14. Their coach Luciano Spalletti started with Riccardo Orsolini, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Federico Chiesa and Mateo Retegui in attack, but it didn't work. Spalletti's substitutions didn't help either, and so the Italians will be looking for a better performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday.
The champions are in Group B alongside Spain, Croatia and Albania, starting their title defense with a match against the Albanians on June 15.
In another friendly match, Portugal prevailed over Finland 4:2 in a spectacular encounter in Lisbon.
Ruben Diaz opened for the Mariners in the 17th minute before Diogo Jota made it 2:0 in stoppage time. After the break, Bruno Fernandes set up the classic, but the Scandinavians did not give up and pulled two goals back through Teemu Pukki. However, Fernandes' second goal of the match put an end to the dispute in the 84th minute. Portugal have two more friendlies ahead of them – with Croatia and the Republic of Ireland – before the start of the Euro 2024 campaign.
In Germany, Roberto Martinez's team is in Group F, where they will meet the teams of Turkey, Georgia and the Czech Republic. The first match is against the Czechs on June 18.
Other results:
Slovenia - Armenia 2:1
Switzerland - Estonia 4:0
Austria - Serbia 2:1
Republic of Ireland – Hungary 2:1. | BGNES
