The day following the win over Armenia which saw Italy notch up five consecutive European Championship qualifying wins (a record!), the side returned to training this morning at the Armenian Federation’s Academy’s Training Ground. During the session, the Azzurri who didn’t play last night worked on the pitch while the rest of the squad worked in the gym and on the pitch. Marco Verratti left the squad with the Paris Saint Germain midfielder now suspended after picking up a booking against Armenia.

In the afternoon, the squad will reach Tampere ahead of the 20:45 CEST kick-off on Sunday night against Finland. The match will see the top two sides in Group J face off and Kanerva’s side lost the previous match 2-0 to Italy on 23 March in Udine in the first match of the group. Last night, Finland beat Greece 1-0 in Tampere thanks to a Teemu Pukki penalty in the second half.

The National Team's schedule

Friday 6 September
10:30 (8:30 CEST) - Training at the FFA Academy Training Centre (behind closed doors)
16:40 (14:40 CEST) - Flight departs from Yerevan to Tampere
All times below are in local time (+1 in relation to CET)

Saturday 7 September
17:30 (16:30 CEST) - Press conference with the Coach and one player at the Tampere Stadium
18:00 (17:00 CEST) - MD-1 Training at the Tampere Stadium (open to the media for the first 15 minutes)

Sunday 8 September
21:45 (20:45 CEST) - Finland vs. Italy at the Tampere Stadium. Meeting with the media after the game and then airport transfer
01:15 (00:15 CEST) - Flight departs from Tampere to Malpensa/Rome