Michael Kayode was handed his first senior Italy cap in Bursa on Monday night and spent the first half involving himself in two goals. His shot was parried, Davide Frattesi put the rebound away, and then Kayode scored one himself to make it two. Italy won 4-1.
"I didn't expect my debut to go like this, so I am really happy," the Brentford full-back told RAI Sport afterwards. He is 22.
A team that needed the night more than he did
Italy had lost 2-0 to Belgium days earlier and turned up in Turkey looking like a different side. Alessandro Bastoni and Francesco Pio Esposito added the other goals; Baris Alper Yilmaz got a consolation for the hosts. For Roberto Mancini it was a first win since returning to the job.
Kayode's read on it was about attitude rather than tactics. "We played in the first half with a fantastic simplicity and determination. We wanted to really prove ourselves, in a difficult match in an incredible stadium atmosphere, so winning here was fantastic."
The towel, the mud and the long throw
The detail that made the night unmistakably his involved a towel. Kayode's long throw-in is one of the more useful weapons at Brentford, a club that has built a reputation on set-piece margins, and he tried to bring it with him. Heavy rain had turned the pitch slick and muddy, and television kept catching him drying the ball before he launched it.
It half worked. Turkey's defenders had to treat every ball out of play near their box as a delivery, which is a tiring way to spend a half. "We had tried a few things in training, but it wasn't easy today with these conditions," Kayode admitted.
What it means for Brentford and for Italy
Brentford now have a full-back who has scored on his international debut, which changes how the rest of Europe reads his name. For Italy, he has arrived at the point where the right-back position needed somebody to claim it rather than borrow it.
France are next, on 2 October, and that is a properly different examination. A muddy night in Bursa against a Turkey side missing its rhythm is one thing; ninety minutes against French wide players is another. Kayode did not sound like a man dreading it. "We wanted to prove something and start the charge. Now we will face France."
Match facts: Turkey 1-4 Italy, Uefa Nations League Group A1, Bursa, Monday 28 September 2026. Italy scorers: Davide Frattesi, Michael Kayode, Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Pio Esposito. Turkey scorer: Baris Alper Yilmaz. Kayode, 22, a Brentford right-back, scored and made one on his senior Italy debut. Italy had lost 2-0 to Belgium in their previous fixture and face France on 2 October.
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