No Olympic glory yet: Italy loses in Poland

Sure, it's only the beginning of a three-month preparation period. But Italy's opening match at the "European Cup of Nations" on Thursday evening showed that there's still a lot of work to be done before the historic event in Milan in February.

06 November 2025

From: fop

At the four-team tournament in the state-of-the-art arena in Sosnowiec, Poland, the Azzurri faced the host nation, arguably the easiest of the three opponents, in their opening match. Nevertheless, they suffered a relatively clear 2-4 defeat.

Clearly, the Blue Team quickly fell behind 0-2 and never really came close to equalizing. Up front, with their two debutants, Wolfsburg's Julius Ramoser and Bolzano's Italian striker Matt Bradley, they played attractively at times, but defensive errors repeatedly played into the Poles' hands.

Amorosa messes up

National team returnee Terrance Amorosa, who had been so convincing in Denmark this year, was right in the thick of it. However, there was no sign of that this evening; on the contrary, the defenseman was responsible for the opening goal when the puck was stolen from him during a power play, and Lukasz Krzemien successfully finished off the ensuing counterattack (7th minute). Just three minutes later, Kamil Gorny increased the lead with an unchallenged shot from the high slot.

It was Matt Bradley who then provided at least a brief moment of excitement. After a Saracino shot was saved, he pushed the puck over the line – his first goal in his first appearance for Italy (13th minute). However, Amorosa then delivered the next blow. In the 16th minute, the puck bounced awkwardly for him, Dominik Pas picked it up, and his shot slipped under Jonny Vallini's leg pad. The Bolzano backup was given the nod over Rudy Rigoni and Damian Clara in Game 1.

Bradley's first goal

It was Vallini who was once again in the spotlight midway through the game. In a scramble in front of his net, he lost his stick, and Pas capitalized on the opportunity to score his second goal of the game (29th minute). This effectively sealed the victory, as Alex Petan could only reduce the deficit to 2-4 for the Azzurri during a power play in the final period (48th minute).

Now it's time for the Azzurri to dust themselves off and move on! Their next opponent, Great Britain, awaits them on Friday afternoon, before they face Slovenia in the tournament finale.

Poland – Italy 4:2

Poland: Fucik (Miarka); Ciura-Pociecha, Zygmunt-Pasiut-Macias; Gorny-Bryk, Chmielevski-Pas-Lyszczarczyk; Bilas-Florczak, Michalski-Komorski-Brynkus; Zielinski-Jaworski, Krzemien-Syty-Gromadzki.
Coach: Pekka Tirkkonen.

Italy: Vallini (Rigoni); Trivellato-Larkin, Tedesco-Frycklund-Purdeller; Zanatta-Di Tomaso, Saracino-Bradley-Gazley; Amorosa Seed, Frigo-Mantenuto-Petan; Glira-Spornberger, Mantinger-Kostner-Ramoser. Allenatore: Jukka Jalonen

Viewers: 1.200

Gates: 1:0 Lukasz Krzemien (6.15), 2:0 Kamil Gorny (9.03), 2:1 Matt Bradley (12.17), 3:1 Dominik Pas (15.07), 4:1 Dominik Pas (28.14), 4:2 Alex Petan (47.41)