Spain drew (1-1) against Italy in Castel di Sangro in the last test before the European Championship in England, a friendly in which Barça player Alexia Putellas, the best player in the world, completed one hundred games with the Spanish team, the first to arrive to that figure. Putellas scored the tying goal, which is already her number 27 with the red one.
The game was at all times of a clear dominance of Spain against a very withdrawn Italy that in the entire first half barely threw a counter. The tie may not be enough because Spain came from sweeping Australia, endorsing it 7-0 last Saturday at the Nuevo Colombino de Huelva.
In the first 45 minutes the chances followed one another in the Italian goal, but the goal they had in their boots, especially Mariona, Alexia and Esther, did not come. The injured strikers Hermoso and Pallaruelo were missing from the team.
The second half started with surprise. In the 48th minute, Italy kicked in a corner. Bergamaschi beat Esther, arriving completely alone at the far post and finishing almost at will against Paños to put the locals ahead.
Spain quickly deployed for the tie. Giuliani took a goal ball from Putellas and then Guijarro finished off the crossbar. Jorge Vilda introduced changes: Leila, Patri Guijarro and Esther left for Laia, Marta Cardona and Olga. It came right away, in the 67th, 1-1 in a center by Cardona and a header by Putellas ahead of his marker. Until the end, Spain sought victory, but there was not much more and they had to settle for a draw. Now the next appointment will be the debut in the European Championship, against Finland.
