Destination Cyprus: the Under 17 National team will be involved in the Under 17 European Champions Finals from 20 May to 5 June, the only Azzurri junior age category that Italy has never won.

Ahead of the Azzurrini's opening game against Poland, (Tuesday 21 May at 19:30 CEST), a 20-page in-depth analysis on the event is online from today, edited by the FIGC Press Office: the Under 17 European Championship schedule, Italy's players to watch out for, as well as their group opponents (Poland, Slovakia and Sweden), the Under 17 national team's season's stats, appearance rankings, goals and minutes played are all spoken about.

And there's more: a summary of the first two qualifying phases, the history of the tournament from 1982 to today and the history of the final placings of the two Under 16 and 17 teams. Thanks to in-depth research work, Italy's participation in the European Championship across 42 years is looked back on through exclusive photos and newspaper pages of the time.

A large section dedicated to the history of the men's and women's national youth teams is online at figc.it: a series of insights, divided into categories and competitions, which retrace the period from 1977 - the year of the first FIFA Under 20 World Cup - up to the present day, looking at the UEFA Under 18 and Under 16 European Championships, which started in 1981 and 1982, respectively, and which then became Under 19 and 17 from 2001/02, and the FIFA Under 17 World Cup which was added in 1985. There is also the Under 17 Women's World Cup, and the Under 17 and 19 Women's European Championships.

There are many stories linked to the Azzurri youth teams across these 46 years, from the many players who later featured in the Men's senior team to the matches that have decided, for better or for worse, the fate of the Azzurrini in every competition. Starting from the first European title of an Under team, the Under 16s in 1982: the star was a young Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to the semi-final, but before the final with Germany he was forced to return to Bologna to play the penultimate lague match of the campaign against Inter, while the Under 16s won the European Championship with a goal from di Simonetta (Genoa).

Then, there is the annulled 1987 win: Italy Under 16s beat the USSR in the European final at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 3 June. The trophy, however, was not approved to the Azzurri due to an irregularity for Fiorentina player, Roberto Secci. Before leaving for the World Cup, the FIGC found a different date of birth in the passport from that of the identity document and reported the case to UEFA, who eventually which revoked the title. FIFA would allow Italy to participate in the Under 17 World Cup in Canada, where they ended in fourth place, their best ever result in the competition. Since that final on 3 June 1987, like a curse for the mistake made, Italy would no longer win either at Under 16 or Under 17 level, the tournament created after the 2001 reform. 37 years have passed by.

Focusing only on the history of the Under 16s and 17s, there have also been many podium placings and disappointments in the final, such as those experienced by two 2006 world champions, Francesco Totti and Gianluigi Buffon: the former Roma player had to settle for 3rd place in the Under 16s in 1992 (he scored the goal in the 3rd/4th playoff game); the following year, still with the Under 16s, the former Juventus player, after saving a penalty against Spain in the quarter-finals and another three against Czechoslovakia in the semi-final, reached the final, which was however won by Poland.

Two other world champions, this time German, are linked to another defeat in the semi-finals: Mustafi and Gotze, champions in 2014 in Brazil, beat Perin and El Shaarawy's Italy Under 17 team in 2009. In recent years, the Netherlands have been our archenemy, beating us twice in 2018 and 2019 in the Under 17 final, a competition we have never won. 2013 also saw us come closel, when in the final the team with Davide Calabria on the right and Federico Dimarco on the left lost on penalties with the Russia.

Individual stats. At an individual level, in the Under 17s, Melegoni and Scamacca have the most appearances (29), followed by Cerri (26). Among the centre-forwards, Esposito leads the way (14), and then Cerri (12); regarding only in the Finals, Vergani and Esposito are in the lead (4 goals, in 2018 and 2019). Capradossi and Pugliese (2013), and Vergani (2018), were the top scorers in the Finals.