News Focus
- Esposito scores the only goal in a 1-0 friendly victory over Luxembourg
- He is the third Azzurri player to register four or more goals before age 21
- The Inter forward joins icons Giuseppe Meazza and Gianni Rivera in the record books
- He has four goals in just eight senior caps for the national team
Inter Milan forward Francesco Pio Esposito has written his name into Italian football history. The 20-year-old netted the winning strike in a 1-0 friendly triumph against Luxembourg on Wednesday.
This goal places the young attacker in elite company. He is now only the third player to score more than three times for Italy’s senior side before reaching the age of 21.
The two other footballers to reach this milestone are Azzurri greats Giuseppe Meazza and Gianni Rivera. Meazza, who starred for Inter, hit 33 goals in 63 matches for his country. He helped Italy lift the World Cup in 1934 and 1938.
Rivera, who claimed the Ballon d’Or prize in 1969, scored 14 times in 60 appearances for the national team. The former AC Milan midfielder also won the European Championship in 1968 and lifted three Serie A titles with his club.
Esposito will turn 21 on June 28. He has now found the net four times in only eight senior international matches. At club level, he has managed ten goals in 48 competitive outings for Inter Milan during the current campaign.