AARON: WE DID IT FOR ETHAN

(for Morrell 60) (for James 74) (for Bale 86)

(for N Williams 86) (for Allen 86)

Kieffer Moore Harry Wilson David Brooks Ben Davies Dylan Levitt Hennessey, A Davies, Lockyer, T Roberts, NorringtonDavies, J Williams, Mepham 7 6

(4-3-3) (Romania)

WALES’ Roman holiday will not live long in the memory.

This was not a night that will go down in the annals of Welsh football folklore as Rob Page’s side disappointed and Ethan Ampadu became the youngest player to be shown a straight red card at a Euros.

Chuck i n some slack defending for Italy’s winner and a g laring miss by Gareth Bale and it is a game best forgotten.

Thankfully for Wales, it did not matter because of the great work they did in Baku to effectively secure a place in the last 16.

Ethan but we have each other’s backs out there and we finished off the job.

“I know he certainly caught him but it is one of those decisions which can go either way.

“We dug in for Ethan.

“We showed great character.

They duly confirmed qualification in second place to earn a last-16 tie against the Group B runners-up in Amsterdam on Saturday.

Unbeaten

The one positive Page can highlight was the character Wales’ 10 men showed to stop Italy adding to Matteo Pessina’s goal and threaten their runners-up position, which they claimed from Switzerland on goal difference.

Wales manager Robert Page was pleased despite the nervy afternoon.

“It didn’t quite go to plan the press in the first half,” he said.

“We addressed it at halftime and we managed to get Ethan Ampadu as the centre of the diamond and get him on the ball a little bit more at the start of the second half.

“The sending- off changed the course of the game. I haven’t seen it again yet. I thought it was harsh to get a booking but to see the red card come out was unbelievable. Then of course it’s an even bigger hill to climb.”

The Azzurri juggernaut rolls on to Wembley next Saturday and Roberto Mancini is their first coach since the double World Cupwinning Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s to go 30 games unbeaten.

They have won 11 games in succession and gone 1,055 minutes since they last conceded.

It was always going to be hard for Wales against a side so bang in form and it did not help that Page felt forced to ditch Wednesday’s winning formula.

He left Kieffer Moore, Ben Davies and Chris Mepham on the bench because they are a booking away from a suspension to go with a 3- 4-3 formation he had only previously used for 45 minutes against Albania.

Deeper

Ramsey struggled as a false nine before the introduction of Moore allowed him to drop into a morecomfortable deeper role, while the wing-backs did not give Wales the defensive solidity Page wanted.

Italy, despite Mancini’s eight changes, dominated possession and territory and the busy Danny Ward

BLUE BEAUTY: Matteo Pessina celebrates opening the scoring for Italy against Wales in Rome yesterday We always give absolutely everything. “For us then it was just important to try and stay compact and to create a couple of opportunities. “We could have nicked a draw on another day but we are still delighted we finished second.” Wales will now play in the last 16 on Saturday in Amsterdam against the second- placed side from Group B, which is likely to be Russia, Finland or Denmark. Skipper Gareth Bale had a golden late chance to level matters in Rome but he blazed over.