Italy paid tribute to the late Davide Astori as they lost 2-0 to Argentina on an emotional night in Manchester.
The message “Davide with us forever” adorned the Azzurri shirt in their first match since the Fiorentina captain’s death on 4 March.
Italy will wear the same inscription on their kit when they face England on Tuesday (20:00 BST).
Serie A fixtures were postponed after the death of the 31-year-old defender, capped 14 times by Italy.
Before kick-off, the stadium observed a minute’s silence as a further mark of respect towards Astori.
READ: Victor Moses score from the spot as Nigeria beat Poland
Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon, making his 176th appearance, a European record, said that the death of his friend was partly responsible for his decision to reverse his international retirement.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper originally retired from international duty after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup last November.
While Lionel Messi did not feature for Argentina, manager Jorge Sampaoli did hand a debut to Chelsea’s 36-year-old reserve keeper Willy Caballero.
Serie A’s top two scorers – Ciro Immobile of Italy and Lazio, and Gonzalo Higuain of Juventus and Argentina – faced each other, but the first period was dominated by the performance of Buffon, who made several outstanding saves to keep the score level.
At 40, Buffon showed that his age has not dulled his reflexes, superbly repelling efforts from Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Otamendi and Higuain.
The veteran goalkeeper was unsighted though when Ever Banega’s sixth goal for his country put Argentina ahead after the break.
Banega, introduced as a substitute, was part of the Sevilla team who knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League at Old Trafford recently.
West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini rounded off the scoring with an emphatic finish to give Argentina a merited victory.
