Italy have begun their preparations for Euro 2016 with an uninspiring 1-0 victory over Scotland at the Ta'Qali National Stadium in Malta this evening.
The Azzurri dominated the match from start to finish, but it took a second-half strike from Graziano Pelle to separate the two sides in the end.
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The match was Italy's last before Antonio Conte chooses his final 23-man squad for this summer's tournament, but he named a strong side rather than experimenting and they almost took the lead after just seven minutes.
Daniele De Rossi provided the initial threat when his deflected free kick brought a save from David Marshall, and the Scotland keeper then recovered in time to deny Emanuele Giaccherini from point-blank range.
Leonardo Bonucci strode out of defence before letting fly from range moments later, but his effort bounced wide of the target in what would become a feature of the first half for the Azzurri.
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Giaccherini was the worst offender when it came to poor finishing amongst the men in blue, though, squandering another clear chance midway through the half when he blazed the ball over the crossbar after Antonio Candreva's cross had fallen kindly to him in a good position.
That sparked a glut of chances for Italy, most of which fell the way of Candreva as the wing-back continually found space to go for goal, although he failed to hit the target with any of his efforts.
The clearest opportunities continued to fall to Giaccherini, though, and he steered a first-time half-volley inches past the post shortly before the half-hour mark having latched on to De Rossi's ball over the top.
Alessandro Florenzi was soon in on the act for Italy, but he too appeared to have forgotten his shooting boots as he sent two shots off target, although the second of those was close enough to worry Marshall.
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Even Andrea Barzagli, who had not scored in his previous 54 caps, had a crack before the end of the half, but once again Marshall was left to watch the shot from the edge of the box go wide of the upright.
The breakthrough finally came shortly before the hour mark as Pelle provided a rare piece of quality in the final third by curling a pinpoint finish into the corner after Eder had initially cut out De Rossi's through-ball.
It was the Southampton striker's fifth goal under Conte - more than anyone else in that time - as he strengthened his bid to be the Azzurri's main frontman at Euro 2016 this summer.
Scotland did at least manage to stem the flow of shots on their goal in the first half, and they even came close to nicking an equaliser when their first effort of the night finally arrived in the 78th minute.
Steven Naismith collected a loose ball inside the Italy area following a rare defensive lapse from Conte's side before squaring it to Matt Ritchie, but the Bournemouth winger's powerful strike rippled the side-netting on its way behind.
It was the only scare to Gianluigi Buffon's goal all night, though, and Italy comfortably saw the game out to claim victory in their opening Euro 2016 warm-up game.
The Azzurri will next face Finland on June 6 in their final match before their campaign gets underway against Belgium in just over two weeks.
Barney Corkhill
