New-look Italy claims impressive draw with Germany
Key takeaways:
- Kimmich equalized for Germany only three minutes after Italy had taken the lead.
- An inexperienced Italy started their rebuilding job with a fantastic home tie with Germany in a Nations League opener for both teams.
Having failed to qualify for this year's World Cup in Qatar, Italy opted to try out multiple raw players.
One of them, 18-year-old replacement Wilfried Gnonto, set up Lorenzo Pellegrini for a 70th-minute goal.
Germany instantly equalized, with Joshua Kimmich firing in to make ten matches undefeated under Hansi Flick.
Germany's next match in Group A3 is a home game against England, which defeated 1-0 in Hungary earlier on Saturday. Italy host the Hungarians, with both matches on 7 June.
It has been several months for European winners Italy, but from the destruction of their shock loss to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, green shoots are starting to break through.
The team fielded against Germany was clipped of nearly all the names recognizable to most fans outside Italy, with 23-year-old goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma, the most experienced player with 44 caps.
But in Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni and Sassuolo duo Davide Frattesi and Gianluca Scamacca they have raw gems to polish.