Italy show resilience, Iceland frustration as both sides' Euros hinge on final matchday

MANCHESTER, England — After their heavy defeat to France on Sunday, Italy manager Milena Bertolini asked her squad to search for the positives to take from the loss, yet if the result of that was an improved performance, it had been held up somewhere between Rotherham and Manchester. Opting to make five changes from her starting XI from four days prior, the coach kept much of the defence that had struggled so deeply against France and refreshed her midfield and attack as they took on Iceland on Thursday.

If the plan was to ease into the game and settle any lingering nerves left over from their French drubbing, it was thrown out the window when Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir thundered a volley into Laura Giuliani's top corner in the third minute. It was a goal that took the tournament tally to four for goals scored in the third minute or earlier, doubling the metric from the previous editions, a reminder for all teams in England that you had to be on your toes from the off with the pace of the game always improving.

For Italy, there wasn't to be a sudden torrent of goals from Iceland as there was France, but Le Azzurre spent most of the first half chasing, always out-muscled and out-classed by their Nordic opposition.

After the match, Bertolini spoke of the suffering the team had endured this month. «This is a European Championships of great suffering for us and this was a very tough game and after a very bad defeat against France,» she said. «Physiologically this hit us very badly.»

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That fragility was there for all to be seen across the pitch, the midfield could offer little against the physically opposing Iceland side who looked