Victims of Collapsed Genoa Bridge Honoured In Emotional Friendly Match

Italy played a one-all draw friendly match with Ukraine on an emotional night at Sampdoria's Stadio Luigi Ferraris, where the victims of Genoa bridge were honoured.



A section of the Morandi motorway collapsed In August, where 43 people lost their lives and over a dozen sustained injuries.

In the 43rd minute, the match was paused as players, staff and supporters applauded in memory of those who died.

A message was shown on the big screen which read "Genoa in the heart".

Before the start of the match, Italy boss Roberto Mancini, who is the former player for Genoa side Sampdoria for 15 years - said the events surrounding the bridge collapse were "a moment of strong emotion" while Ukraine coach and former AC Milan forward Andriy Shevchenko said it was "difficult to find the words for such a tragedy."

"In these moments, people must help each other, because there are no frontiers in front of the tragedies that affect the world," Shevchenko added.

In the second half, Federico Bernardeschi spun a powerful shot into the back of the net following a blunder from Russia goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov to put Italy in front.

Seven minutes later, the visitors equalized through Ruslan Malinovskiy with a bouncing volley.

Italy's failure to secure a win to mark the occasion means they have just two wins in their last 12 games.