Euro 2020 kicked off in style with Italy seeing off Turkey 3-0 in the opener played at the stadio Olimpico in Rome.
An own goal by Merih Demiral and strikes by Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne settled the exciting contest in front of a near capacity crowd.
Just like the Italia 90 World Cup, the opening ceremony was one of a kind with Italian opera tenor Andrea Bocelli gracing the opening ceremony with a moving performance of Nessun Dorma.
And when the ceremony was done, it was down to business with both teams keeping it tight in defence and the midfields trying as much as possible to stop the opponents from having free-flowing football.
It was also the first time in a single game at the European Championship, the Azzurri scored three times, Roberto Mancini's side registering 24 attempts as they turned on the style to extend their unbeaten run to 28 matches stretching back to September 2018.
The Italians dominated the first half but could not find the net, Giorgio Chiellini going close with a thumping header, forcing a brilliant save from Ugurcan Cakir. Cengiz Under had Turkey’s best chance of the first half but his goal-bound effort had sting taken off it by Spinazzola.
Italy finally broke the deadlock when Demiral turned the ball past his own keeper trying to cut out Domenico Berardi's second-half cross before Lazio's Immobile, playing on his home ground, pounced after Leonardo Spinazzola's shot was blocked by the keeper.
The Azzurri wrapped up a satisfying win though Insigne's classy finish to send the Rome crowd in frenzy.