Italy men’s national team defeated Greece 10:7 in a friendly game played as part of joint preparations of the two teams in Piraeus.
The duel in Piraeus was the first of several friendly matches between the best national teams that will be played in the following days across Europe and the USA.
Greece and Italy will play a new friendly game in the same pool in two days.
Friendly game, Piraeus
Greece – Italy 7:10 (2:3, 2:3, 2:2, 1:2)
Greece: Tzortzos, Gkillas, Alafragkis, Kalogeropoulos, Fountoulis 2, Papanastasiou 2, Dervisis, Argyropoulos 3, Nikolaidis, Kakaris 1, Gkiouvetsis, Chalyvopoulos, Limarakis, Gouvis, Kopelaidis. Head coach: Vlachos
Italy: De Lungo, Di Fulvio, Alesiani, Ferrero 1, Fondelli 1, Canella 1, Renzuto, Echenique, Marziali 2, Bruni 2, Iocchi Gratta 3, Condemi 1, Nicosia, Patchaliev, Cassia. Head coach: Campagna.
Italy didn’t arrive in Piraeus with 18 players, as it was announced. Head coach Alessandro Campagna has 16 available players in the preparations. Edoardo Di Somma and Luca Damonte got ill shortly before the trip, so they stayed home.
Greece had a 2:1 lead and a 4:3 lead in the first half. But, Italy closed the second quarter with three unanswered goals and went to 6:4. Early in the third period, Renzuto made it 7:4 by converting a penalty shot. Matteo Iocchi Gratta added his third goal in the middle of this period to stretch the margin to four (8:4). Still, Greece came back after a 0:5 series. The hosts scored three consecutive goals. Argyropoulos netted an action goal for 7:8. However, the visitors scored the last two goals in the game and recorded a 10:7 win.
