Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei scored a late penalty to break England hearts at the Under-20 World Cup.
The 21-year-old has scored five times for the Azzuri in Argentina, the current top scorer for the whole competition.
Alfie Devine's equaliser in the second half kept hopes alive, but VAR intervened late on and gave Italy a penalty.
They will face Colombia on Saturday in the quarter-final.
Cesare Casadei’s late goal knocked England U20s out of the World Cup as Italy progress to the quarter final.
— Talk Reading (@TalkReading) June 1, 2023
5th goal of the tournament for the Azurri captain - more than any other player 🇮🇹 #readingfc pic.twitter.com/NcSjI0zFyQ
Italy are yet to win the competition since it's origins in the 1970s, while former Reading goalkeeper Luke Southwood helped the Young Lions to victory in South Korea in 2017.
Spending the second half of last season on loan with Reading, Casadei played 15 times and scored once against Blackburn Rovers as the Royals were relegated to League One.
Costing £15m from Inter Milan, the youngster is linked with a move to Watford next season as Mauricio Pochettino's side hope to continue his development.
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