Patrizia Panico made history as the first female Coach to lead a male Italian national team and her Under-16 squad saw a penalty revoked via video technology too.

It was an historic occasion all round at the Stadio Bentegodi in Verona, as Italy lost 4-1 to their German counterparts in a friendly.

Panico is regularly a member of Coach Daniele Zoratto’s staff and stood in for him while he is away with the Under-19 team.

Patrizia Panico made history as the first female Coach to lead a male Italian national team and her Under-16 squad saw a penalty revoked via video technology too.

It was an historic occasion all round at the Stadio Bentegodi in Verona, as Italy lost 4-1 to their German counterparts in a friendly.

Panico is regularly a member of Coach Daniele Zoratto’s staff and stood in for him while he is away with the Under-19 team.

“We knew that Germany were a fantastic squad and they proved that, playing at a very high tempo,” said Panico after the game.

“We probably started in timid fashion, but the lads did well to not give in and try to get the result back on track. We’ve got a lot of work to do and on Friday there is another important match.

“There was enormous attention from the media around my debut, but I always remained calm. I am a very balanced person anyway and don’t let myself get swept up by emotions, even though I must admit listening to the national anthem always gives special sensations.

“Representing Italy has always been a source of immense pride.”

The presence of a woman on the bench wasn’t the only sign of changing times in this game, as a penalty was awarded and then revoked using VAR (Video Assistant Referees) technology.

“The Video Assistant Referees at first confirmed the assignation of the penalty was correct, but then saw from a different angle that the German striker had started around 50cm offside, so they advised Orsato,” explained Roberto Rosetti.

“The situation was dealt with very well and the total time for the revision of the footage was only 14 seconds.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector