Ashley Cole got off to a winning start with Roma, playing in a 3-1 friendly win over Indonesia’s Under-23 side.
Ashley Cole is starting his Serie A adventure and featured in a Roma side that beat Indonesia’s Under-23 team 3-1 in Rieti.
Cole was one of several new faces for the side that finished runners-up in Serie A last season.
Turkish midfielder Salih Ucan was brilliant and scored one of the goals while Juan Iturbe, who had been on the brink of joining Juventus, also impressed.
Unsettled defender Mehdi Benatia received a favourable reception from fans despite seeming to want to leave the club, but he didn’t feature on the pitch.
Coach Rudi Garcia changed his team three times, giving three different formations half an hour to impress.
Cole featured for the first 33 minutes in an experimental Roma line-up with several unfamiliar faces, playing a 4-3-3 system.
There wasn’t much to test the former Chelsea man who was able to gently play his way into his new club.
Much bigger tests loom for Cole and it remains to be seen whether he will start in Roma’s season opener.
Roma line-ups:
STARTING LINE-UP: Skorupski; Balasa, Somma, Castana, A. Cole; Uçan, Nainggolan, Florenzi; Destro, Totti, Ljajic
AFTER 33 MINUTES: Lobont; Golubovich, Caprodossi, Romagnoli, Emanuelson; Paredes, Mazzitelli, Pettinari; Sanabria, Borriello, Josè Angel
AFTER 60 MINUTES: Svedkauskas; Sammartino, De Santis, Calabresi, Paolelli; Ricozzi, Pellegrini, Adamo; Ferri, Vestenicky (Taviani 87), Cedric. (Di Mariano 87)
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