The Azzurrini’s journey comes to an end in Doha, defeated by Austria, who will now play for the world title against Portugal, winner on penalties against Brazil.

The Under-17 national team’s journey in the World Cup in Qatar came to an end just one step away from their dream: after six victories in the group stage and knockout rounds, their first defeat (2-0 against Austria) proved costly for Massimiliano Favo’s team, who were beaten by a solid and organized opponent that had already beaten them twice in friendlies in October. Johannes Moser, striker for Liefering (Salzburg’s satellite team) and top scorer in the World Cup, increased his tally from six to eight: with a diagonal left-footed shot and a right-footed free kick in the final minutes, he made the difference in the second half.

THE MATCH Favo—who has to deal with Marini’s suspension in defense—continues with the rotations that are bearing fruit in closely spaced matches: De Paoli replaced Borasio in central defense, and the attacking duo changed again with Campaniello (three goals in the previous two games) and Elimoghale, triggered by the quality of the untouchable Inacio. Like the Azzurrini, Austria has also won all its games and conceded only one goal. Despite the absence of suspended center back Ndukwe and injured center forward Dobis, they are a team of good average quality, with top scorer Moser at the peak of his form. He is one to watch, even before his double in this semifinal. Italy started strongly: in the first 12 minutes, four shots from Inacio, Campaniello, and Luongo all ended up close to Posch’s goal. For Austria, however, it is nothing new to leave the initiative to their opponents at times and then try to turn the game around as soon as possible. In the middle of the first half, the game became very tactical and reached halftime without any particular highlights, a drop in intensity in which our opponents seemed to feel comfortable.

THE MOVES Favo’s first move, 10 minutes into the second half, was to bring on Lontani in place of Elimoghale, who had failed to make an impact up front. However, the Austrian game plan paid off with the first useful vertical pass: the through ball to Moser found De Paoli out of position, Reggiani was unable to close him down, and the feared Moser’s clinical left foot beat Longoni at the far post. A reaction was needed. Maccaroni came on for Prisco, and a long period of passing in the attacking half began, with the difficulty of creating space in congested areas. With eight minutes to go, Borasio and Arena came on for Reggiani and Inacio, but the Juventus defender, who had also taken the captain’s armband, lasted only seven minutes, as a foul on Frauscher (reviewed by Football Video Support) earned him a straight red card. From the resulting free kick, the rampant Moser made it 2-0, bringing Italy’s World Cup campaign to an end, although they still have the third-place play-off against Brazil to look forward to on Thursday, after Brazil were eliminated on penalties by Portugal in the other semi-final.