Recap: Bradley Barcola Makes History as France Falls to Italy
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France collapsed in the second half, losing 3-1 to Italy in the UEFA Nations League on Friday at the Parc des Princes. Despite the strong start, Les Bleus couldn't build momentum off that and dropped their first match of the competition.
Didier Deschamps and his team scored off an error from Italy as Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola scored seconds into the match. France was up 1-0 after the 21-year-old netted the fastest goal in the history of the French national team.
The home side generated seven total shots in the first half as they looked for the second goal. Even though the Italian side conceded a goal seconds into the match, Luciano Spalletti and his team bounced back with a game-tying goal.
Federico Dimarco of Inter Milan leveled the scoring in the 30th minute as Italy snatched momentum from the French squad heading into halftime. Coming out of the break, Gli Azzurri scored two unanswered goals to claim the win on the road.
Italy's second goal came in the 50th minute as another Inter Milan player appeared on the sheet as Davide Frattesi found the back of the net. Napoli's Giacomo Raspadori added the third goal in the 74th minute to give the away side insurance.
France generated five total shots in the second half but couldn't find the goal to get themselves back into the contest. The Italians left the French capital with all three points as they and Belgium, who defeated Israel 3-1 on Friday, secured victories in Group B action.
Les Bleus are in a challenging situation as they'll now host Belgium on Monday at Groupama Stadium. A loss to the visitors could result in tough odds of advancing past the group stage of the competition.
On the other side of the group, Italy will play Israel on Monday at Bozsik Aréna in Hungary. A win over the Skyblue and Whites would put the Italians in a solid position to advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
It will only be Matchday 2 on Monday for Group B, but there's a lot at stake in these two matches.
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