Striker Cristiana Girelli came off the bench to head an 87th-minute winner in Italy’s Women’s World Cup opener against Argentina.
Girelli replaced midfielder Giulia Dragoni, who at the age of 16 years and 259 days became one of the youngest players in the tournament’s history.
The record belongs to Ifeanyi Chiejine, who was 16 years and 34 days when she played for Nigeria in 1999.
Azzurre manager Milena Bertolini put her faith in youngster Dragoni who only made her debut for the senior side on 1 July, but ultimately it was experienced Juventus player Girelli who made the difference.
It looked as though Italy were going to be frustrated by a gritty defensive performance by Argentina before substitute Girelli, who replaced Dragoni in the 83rd minute, nodded the winner.
The vastly experienced Girelli got on the end of Lisa Boattin’s cross and looped the ball over Vanina Correa to secure a 1-0 victory.
In front of a crowd of 30,889 spectators, Italy had earlier seen goals by Arianna Caruso and Valentina Giacinti ruled out for offside.
A tetchy contest which included six bookings was stopped numerous times to allow players to have treatment.
Italy, who also included 18-year-old forward Chiara Beccari from the start, go to Wellington next to play Sweden, who also have three points in Group G, on Saturday.
Argentina’s next match is against South Africa in Dunedin on Friday.
Italy have lost their way since an impressive showing at the 2019 World Cup which included wins over Australia, Jamaica and China.
They disappointed at Euro 2022 and 13 of Bertolini’s 23 players at this tournament are appearing on the World Cup stage for the first time.
The Italy boss produced a major surprise before kick-off by naming Dragoni in her starting XI – just three weeks after the youngster made her debut for Le Azzurre aged 16 years and 236 days.
She has been nicknamed ‘Little Messi’ and played her part in her country’s win with some confident touches, with the teenager finishing the match with an 86.4% passing accuracy.
While Dragoni started, forward Girelli, defender Elisa Bartoli and midfielder Valentina Cernoia – who have more than 200 caps between them and are appearing at their second World Cup – had to make do with seats on the bench.
Girelli made her presence felt after climbing off the bench to settle the match and break Argentina’s hearts.
La Albiceleste thought they had earned themselves a crucial point and looked crestfallen after Girelli struck before Florencia Bonsegundo was denied an equaliser in the closing moments by Francesca Durante.
The hunt for a first World Cup win goes on for Argentina, who have lost eight of their 10 games spanning four editions of the tournament.
