Italy beat Estonia 5-0 at Stadio di Bergamo
An exciting evening in Atalanta's stadium
A party atmosphere prevailed at the Bergamo stadium as Italy secured a resounding 5-0 victory over Estonia. A packed Stadio di Bergamo was the backdrop for Rino Gattuso's debut as the Azzurri's new head coach. After a goalless first half, Italy broke the deadlock in the second and went on to win, earning three vital points in their quest to qualify for the next World Cup.
Of the Atalanta players in the Azzurri squad, only Bellanova was selected for this match by the coach, although he did not play. As for the other Nerazzurri, Carnesecchi and Maldini were not called up.
Four more Atalanta players were in action on Friday evening, 5 September.
Mario Pašalić started and played the opening 80 minutes of Croatia's 1-0 victory against the Faroe Islands.
Côte d'Ivoire also claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Burundi, with Odilon Kossounou completing the full 90 minutes.
Isak Hien captained Sweden in their 2-2 draw with Slovenia, having started the match.
Finally, Nikola Krstović's Montenegro suffered a 2-0 defeat against the Czech Republic, with the Atalanta forward playing the full match.
Saturday 6 September, two more Atalanta players will be in action.
Fixtures, results and playing time of our Nerazzurri
Raoul Bellanova, Marco Carnesecchi, and Daniel Maldini - ITALY
- Friday, September 5 in Bergamo: Bellanova did not play, while Carnesecchi and Milan weren't part of the squad
- Monday, September 8 in Debrecen: Israel vs Italy
Charles De Ketelaere - BELGIUM
- Thursday, September 4 in Vaduz: Liechtenstein 0-6 Belgium | De Ketelaere was subbed in on 61 minutes
- Sunday, September 7 in Anderlecht: Belgium vs Kazakhstan
Berat Djimsiti - ALBANIA
- Thursday, September 4 in Gibraltar: Friendly Gibraltar vs Albania 0-1 | Djimsiti did not take the field
- Tuesday, September 9 in Tirana: Albania vs Latvia
Isak Hien - SWEDEN
- Friday, September 5 in Ljubljana: Slovenia 2-2 Sweden | Hien skippered the team for the whole match
- Monday, September 8 in Pristina: Kosovo vs Sweden
Odilon Kossounou - IVORY COAST
- Friday, September 5 in Abidjan: Ivory Coast 1-0 Burundi | Kossounou completed the full 90 minutes
- Tuesday, September 9 in Franceville: Gabon vs Ivory Coast
Nikola Krstović - MONTENEGRO
- Friday, September 5 in Podgorica: Montenegro 0-2 the Czech Republic | Krstović played the whole match
- Monday, September 8 in Zagreb: Croatia vs Montenegro
Ademola Lookman - NIGERIA
- Saturday, September 6 in Akwa Ibom: Nigeria vs Rwanda
- Tuesday, September 9 in Bloemfontein: South Africa vs Nigeria
Mario Pašalić - CROATIA
- Friday, September 5 in Torsvollur: Faroe Islands 0-1 Croatia | Pašalić played the opening 80 minutes of the match
- Monday, September 8 in Zagreb: Croatia vs Montenegro
Lazar Samardžić - SERBIA
- Saturday, Sept 6 in Riga: Latvia vs Serbia
- Tuesday, Sept 9 in Belgrade: Serbia vs England
Kamaldeen Sulemana - GHANA
- Thursday, September 4 in N'Djamena: Chad 1-1 Ghana | Kamaldeen was subbed in on 77 minutes
- Monday, September 8 in Accra: Ghana vs Mali
Nicola Zalewski - POLAND
- Thursday, September 4 in Rotterdam, Netherlands: 1-1 Poland | Zaleski played the opening 71 minutes of the match
- Sunday, September 7 in Chorzów: Poland vs Finland