“I wanted to greet our players from the National Team ahead of the important match tomorrow and I’m looking forward to watching from the stands at the Stadio Olimpico, said the Minister for Sport and Youth Policies Vincenzo Spadafora who visited the Azzurri at their base in Rome to pass on the support from the government ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifier against Greece.

“I want to thank President Gravina, Mancini, the staff and the whole team for this extraordinary welcome,” said the minister. “As the minister for sport but youth policies also, it’s especially nice to see one of the youngest squads ever which is a positive sign for Italian football and the youngsters working in the academies as they pursue their dreams of representing Italy. I’ll keep the shirt that I’ve been given in my office, also because of the strong symbolism it carries about focusing on youth and their futures in the renaissance of Italian football.”

At the hotel to greet the minister was FIGC President Gabriel Gravina, CEO Marco Brunelli, Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Oriali. “We thank the minister for his openness and vital support for the team and all of Italian football,“ said Gravina. “Tomorrow, we hope that it will be a big party in Rome and we want to qualify for Euro 2020 so that we can better prepare for the tournament and come back to Rome [the venue for four matches] as one of the key teams.”