Wales Under 21s agonisingly missed out on a place in the European Championship play-offs.
Mustacchio strike dumps out Flynn's Wales in Italy
Wales Under 21s agonisingly missed out on a place in the European Championship play-offs after a 1-0 defeat by Italy Under 21s in Pescara.
Brian Flynn's side went into the match three points ahead of their opponents knowing a draw would be good enough to win Group 3.
Defeat, however, would leave Wales likely to miss out under Uefa's head-to-head criteria after Italy scored an away goal in their 2-1 away loss earlier in the campaign.
And that is exactly what transpired, with Wales also missing out on one of four best runner-up places on goal difference to Iceland.
Flynn's youngsters would have been desperate to give Welsh football something to cheer in the week John Toshack seems certain to resign as manager of the senior team but it was Mattia Mustacchio's early goal that sealed their fate.
Dangerous
The manager, who is among the favourites to replace Toshack, had been boosted by the arrival of Neal Eardley, Andy King and Simon Church from the senior squad, and all three started.
It was the visitors who started the brighter, with Joe Allen and Hal Robson-Kanu both forcing Italy keeper Vito Mannone, who is on Arsenal's books, into saves.
But Wales were made to regret those missed opportunities when Mustacchio gave Italy the lead in the 14th minute.
Reading winger Robson-Kanu, who scored the only goal in Wales' win over Hungary on Saturday, looked dangerous and he tested Mannone again before seeing another effort blocked.
Grateful
The visitors were then grateful to goalkeeper Chris Maxwell for twice denying Diego Fabbrini in quick succession.
The second half was a scrappy affair initially and three players were booked following a melee that erupted after a foul by Lorenzo Ariaudo on Church.
Wales were running out of time but it was Italy who were threatening to score, with Maxwell saving efforts from Fabbrini and Guido Marilungo.
The last action of the match was another Italian effort, this time from Ezequiel Schelotto, as Wales, who lost 5-4 to England in the play-offs two years ago, slumped to defeat.
