After landing yesterday afternoon in San Juan, a city near the Andes, just North of Mendoza, the Azzurrini passed the night resting following the excellent, but tiring, victory over England in La Plata two days prior (2-1 with goals from Baldanzi and Casadei's penalty). Now, Nunziata's boys are immediately back in action on Saturday (23:00 CEST, live on Rai Sport) to take on a tricky Colombia side, who beat Slovakia 5-1 to reach this stage of the competition. It will be a tough test for Italy's youngsters, with the winner earning a place in the Under-20 World Cup semi-finals.

This afternoon, the lads had a final training session working on tactics and focusing on the style of play Colombia possess, which is the common South American way: technical quality, invention and pace. Although, it is worth noting how well this Italy side has done so far by progressing out of Group D, where three out of four teams qualified: Italy, Brazil and Nigeria; it has already been a difficult run. 

Number 10, Tommaso Baldanzi, who drove his team to victory with not only the opening goal but much more, underlined: “Our journey here wasn't easy from the start and the results are testimony to that. The game against Nigeria was a hiccup: we weren't as focused as we usually are and were a little fatigued following our opening game against Brazil, which was exhausting physically and mentally. We spoke about it and certainly won't be making the same mistake like we did against Nigeria," the Empoli forward added.

Ending on an emotional note: the splendid Argentinian crowd, the twelfth man on the field of play during the games with Brazil and England. The rivalry between the two countries are known, but regardless of this, the tournament hosts' support, due to the many Italian emigrants in the country and who identify with the Azzurri shirt, has been incredible. With Argentina knocked out (eliminated by Nigeria, one of some strong teams to go out, together with France and England), backing for the Azzurrini will certainly be in abundance.

Schedule and Round of 16 results

Tuesday 30 May
USA 4-0 New Zealand
Uzbekistan 0-1 Israel

Wednesday 31 May
Brazil 4-1 Tunisia
Colombia 5-1 Slovakia
England 1-2 ITALY
Argentina 0-2 Nigeria

Thursday 1 June
19.30 Gambia 0-1 Uruguay
23.00 Ecuador 2-3 South Korea

QUARTER-FINALS (3 June)
Israel vs. Brazil
Colombia vs. ITALY (Saturday 3 June, 23:00 CEST in San Juan, live on Rai Sport)

QUARTER-FINALS (4 June)
USA vs. Uruguay
South Korea vs. Nigeria

SEMI-FINALS: 8 June

FINALS: 11 June

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Trento); Jacopo Sassi (Giugliano Calcio), Gioele Zacchi (Sassuolo);
Defenders: Filippo Fiumanò (Aquila Montevarchi); Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Mantova), Samuel Giovane (Ascoli), Gabriele Guarino (Empoli), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), Mattia Zanotti (Inter);
Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Cesare Casadei (Reading F.C.), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Luca Lipani (Genoa), Niccolò Pisilli (Roma), Matteo Prati (SPAL);
Attackers: Giuseppe Ambrosino Di Bruttopilo (Cittadella), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Daniele Montevago (Sampdoria), Simone Pafundi (Udinese).

Staff - Head of Delegation, Marcello Nicchi; Manager: Gianfranco Serioli ; Assistant Head Coach, Emanuele Filippini; Fitness Coach, Vito Azzone; Goalkeeping Coach, Fabrizio Ferron; Match Analyst, Marco Mannucci; Observer, Claudio Coppi; Doctors, Carmelo Papotto and Lorenzo Ticca; Physiotherapist, Giuseppe Galli and Tommaso Cannata; Nutritionist, Alessio Colli; Secretary, Aldo Blessich; Press Officer, Giuseppe Ingrati; Administration, Francesco Casella; Club Italia, Matteo Galdelli; Logistics, Carlo Fanano.

History

(number of Under-20 World Cups won)

Argentina (six), Brazil (five), Portugal (two), Serbia (two), Ghana (one) Spain (one), Russia (one), Germany (one), England (one), France (one), Ukraine (one, current champions).