Pio Esposito shrugs off penalty ghosts as he continues impressive scoring streak for Italy

MILAN (AP) — Having been touted as Italy’s next great center forward, Pio Esposito is certainly living up to his promise.

Esposito scored two goals in a commanding performance on Thursday as Italy beat France 3-1 in the Nations League for a first victory over Les Bleus on home soil in 64 years.

The 21-year-old forward took his tally to nine goals for Italy in just 14 matches and also went some way toward expelling the memories from Italy’s World Cup playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Esposito’s second goal on Thursday came from the penalty spot, sealing the 3-1 result in the 75th minute. It was the first spot kick he had taken since missing one in a penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia that saw the Azzurri fail to qualify for a third straight World Cup.

“When I stepped up to the penalty spot, that memory came back to me — but I couldn’t hide for the rest of my life. You have to summon the courage to take them,” Esposito said.

There was also an extra weight to the penalty: Pio’s older brother, Sebastiano, had missed a spot kick 15 minutes earlier, when the score was still 1-1.

“There was also an added responsibility: to make people forget my brother’s mistake,” Pio said. “When he made that mistake, it was tough for me, too, and I had to seal the result for his sake as well.”

Italy coach Roberto Mancini had seemed as surprised as most at San Siro when Sebastiano stepped up to take the earlier penalty, which he blazed wide. And Mancini confirmed after the match that Pio was top of the penalty takers’ list, with Sebastiano second.

“It was a family thing," Mancini added with a smile.

In fact, when Italy got the second spot kick, Mancini turned to Sebastiano — who had been substituted off — on the Azzurri bench and jokingly asked if he wanted to take that one, too. Both laughed.

It has been a remarkable rise for Pio Esposito, who was playing in Serie B — on loan at Spezia — until the start of last season, before a breakout campaign back at Inter Milan.

The youngster was given a standing ovation on Thursday by the crowd of nearly 71,500 at San Siro when he was substituted off in stoppage time.

Pio Esposito could finally be the forward who takes over Gigi Riva’s crown as Italy’s all-time record scorer with 35 goals — a mark that has stood for 52 years.

“We hope he can score a lot more, because it’s been a lifetime that Gigi Riva is at the top,” Mancini said. “We hope someone surpasses him for the good of the national team.

“Certainly Pio has a great score at the moment, compared to the matches played.”

Next up for Italy is an away match against Belgium, when the Azzurri can seal their place in the quarterfinals as group winners.

Italy lost at home to Belgium in Mancini's first match back in charge. But it has appeared a team transformed since then.

“I am happy that I and we are doing well,” Pio said.

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