Antonio Conte led Italy in a home friendly against Spain while Wales tried its luck without Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in the headlining matches of Thursday’s friendlies across Europe.
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Italy 1-1 Spain
Thirty-five year old Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz scored his second international goal in three caps to quickly answer Lorenzo Insigne’s first Italian goal since 2013, as these two powers drew a high-profile friendly at Stadio Friuli, home of Udinese. Spain had the better of possession, but Italy put 7 of 11 shots on target.
1 – Aritz Aduriz has scored one goal in his second appearance for Spain, as many as Diego Costa in his 10 games. Instinct.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 24, 2016
Czech Republic 0-1 Scotland
Ikechi Anya scored on a counter attack in the first half, and that was all Scotland needed to land a win in Prague. The Czechs out shot Scotland 20-11 (6-2 on target), but Hull City’s Allan McGregor was unbeatable in the win.
9 – Scotland have scored in nine of their last 10 away internationals, the exception being their 1-0 loss in Georgia in September. Potent.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 24, 2016
Wales 1-1 Northern Ireland
Church scores his late penalty (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Watford’s Craig Cathcart netted in the 60th minute for the visitors before Simon Church was adjudged to have been taken down in the box by West Brom’s Gareth McAuley and Wales found an equalizer. No Gareth Bale in this one; The Welsh star is being rested.
Elsewhere
Denmark 2-1 Iceland
Turkey 2-1 Sweden
Ukraine 1-0 Cyprus
Estonia 0-0 Norway
Malta 0-0 Moldova
Greece 2-1 Montenegro
Singapore 2-1 Myanmar
Solomon Islands 2-0 Papua New Guinea