England U21 3 Italy U21 3
24 March 2007

Attendance: 55,700

On Saturday 24 March, 2007 England took on Italy at the new Wembley Stadium in an under-21 international friendly. The players were the first to experience a match day atmosphere at Wembley in front of 55,700  fans.

The event was the second of two “ramp-up” events that the Stadium needed to host to test the facilities and to obtain a General Safety Certificate from the London Borough of Brent. 

Tickets to this event sold out in less than six hours and spectators were treated to a truly spectacular match.

It was a momentous day in Wembley’s history and the two teams certainly lived up to the occasion by putting on a fantastic game.   Fans witnessed a record-breaking strike from Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who by the end of the match had not only netted the fastest ever goal in a professional match in Wembley history - in a record 29 seconds, but had also scored the new stadium’s first hat-trick.

Despite going a goal behind after just 29 seconds, England fought back to level the score after 30 minutes thanks to a stunning free kick from Blackburn's David Bentley, making Bentley the first Englishman to score at the new stadium. Both teams fought hard to get back on top and after an action packed 90 minutes finished all square at 3-3.  

Bentley picked up the man of the match award and said after the game that he will always cherish being part of the first team to play a competitive match at the new national stadium.
"I went out there to give it all I've got and lucky enough it's happening for me at the moment, I scored a goal and got man of the match. It's a great feeling on a special occasion like this.

"Wembley is fantastic and it was an amazing feeling just driving up to the ground. Stepping out onto the pitch was great, right from the first minute. It's very tight as well and the crowd's right on top of you, which is a good feeling.

"This stadium is where you want to play football and it was great to score a goal on an occasion like this and is something I will never forget."

"To play for your country, it's the best thing in the world. Playing for your country at Wembley, it's where every player wants to be."

Captain Nigel Reo-Coker was also full of pride after leading England's Under-21s out in the first ever game at the new Wembley. "I can't really put it into words. I feel so proud and privileged to be given the opportunity to lead England out at the first game here at the new Wembley," beamed the West Ham United midfielder. "It was a priceless moment, a moment I will cherish."

Reo-Coker was impressed with the new stadium and after the initial excitement of taking part in their first training session at Wembley earlier in the week said the team was able to enjoy the historic occasion on Saturday.

"We trained here before to prepare for this game, so we had the excitement of it on Thursday," he said.

"It's different when you come here on a match day, (because of) the atmosphere the fans generate.

"You just have to be here and be a part of it to have a feeling of the occasion.