UDINE, ITALY: Italy strengthened their position at the top of Nations League Group A2 on Monday by beating Israel 4-1 in Udine, where ramped up security measures were put in place for the away side's first match of 2024 outside Hungary.
Mateo Retegui's penalty four minutes from half-time, a brace from captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Davide Frattesi's 72nd-minute strike were enough for Italy to move up to 10 points from four unbeaten matches.
Luciano Spalletti's side are on the up after a dismal title defence at the European Championship this past summer, although a strong performance was marred by Guglielmo Vicario allowing Mohammed Abu Fani's corner straight past him in the 65th minute.
Israel, who had played all their previous fixtures in Hungary due to the security situation in the Middle East, stay bottom of the group without a single point.
Udine was placed on high alert for the match, with the area around the stadium cordoned off by a series of barriers, extra security checks and an off-limits "red zone" which was created some 48 hours before kick-off.
Israel has been at war with Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since the latter staged the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
But the drastically increased levels of security, including police brought in from neighbouring regions of northern Italy and soldiers on the stadium roof, and blaring headlines in local media about a "bunker city" were out of step with the largely relaxed atmosphere around Udine.
Hours before the match pro-Palestine demonstrators – estimated by police to be around 2,000 people – marched through central Udine flanked by a phalanx of police, whose helicopter kept an eye on the city from above.
The peaceful demonstrators, including members of local Palestinian communities, were not just protesting against Israel but in some cases also demanding that world governing body FIFA suspend the country from football participation.
Earlier this month FIFA made no verdict on a Palestinian request to suspend Israel, instead launching committee investigations to inform an eventual decision.
Meanwhile the majority of the sparsely-populated stadium replied to weak jeers from some home fans of the pre-match Israel team announcement by breaking out into a round of applause in support of their guests.
And the crowd did the same again for Israel's national anthem, although there were some whistles while a small section of Italy supporters stayed seated until their own nation's anthem.