Under the sky of Heraklion, where myth and history intertwine, the Italy Under-19 team showed its best side, qualifying for the elite phase of the European Championships, to be held in the spring, after finishing Group 8 of the first qualifying phase with a full score, with 7 goals scored and 0 conceded. At the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium, in the third and final match of the group, the Azzurrini won 1-0 against the Greek hosts thanks to the penalty kick awarded by Armenian referee Nalbandyan for a foul by Konstantinos Polykratis, PAOK midfielder, against Excelsior Rotterdam striker Seydou Fini, converted with the panenka by the 2008 AC Milan talent Francesco Camarda in the 42nd minute of the second half.

‘We obtained an important result,’ stressed coach Alberto Bollini, ’especially if we consider the very tight timeframe we have to prepare for these mini tournaments, which we know very well. These, together with the fact that we didn't have several lads available in the outings prior to the qualifiers, were the biggest worries, but the team did very well, both on and off the pitch, showing exemplary behaviour that made the difference. Today, before the goal, we had at least four chances and there was probably another penalty, again on Fini. This victory, the result of the work of everyone, staff and players, sealed a perfect fixture.'

Italy will know the name of their opponents in the elite phase, scheduled for spring, at the draw scheduled for 5 December in Nyon. At the moment, pending the completion of groups 1, 5 and 9, the teams qualified for the second phase of the European qualifiers are: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, England, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey.