The Italy Under 17s, after having beaten the Netherlands 2-0 in the debut game of Group 3 in the elite round of the Euros, will be back playing tomorrow (12:00 CET, livestream available on the FIGC website) at the Myyrmäki Stadium in Vantaa to face Belgium who beat the hosts Finland 1-0 thanks to a penalty in the 13th minute scored by 2007-born forward, Chike Van De Ven Macayle.

Alessando Ciardi, the forward born in 2007, affirmed: “We are ready, and we can’t wait to play. In the first game, that is usually a bit harder for various reasons, we gave a big show of strength against the Netherlands who, let’s not forget, are top of tis age group”. Show of strength in which the Azzurrini number 20 took centre stage with the penalty for the 1-0 (“my first thought was about my family and my girlfriend”) whilst wearing the captain’s armband. The in-form Salzburg player stated: “I’m wearing it, but in a group this string, we all are: from first to last. If we play like we know how, we shouldn’t worry about anything or anyone: we aren’t being presumptuous but we are aware of our skills”.

The final phase of the tournament is scheduled from 20 May to 5 June in Cyprus. The top side in each group of the Elite Round and the seven best second-placed sides will go through for a total of 15 sides, as well as hosts, Cyprus. 

Calendar, results, and table in Group 3 of the Elite Round

Matchday 1 (Wednesday 20 March)
Netherlands 0-2 ITALY
Finland 0-1 Belgium

Table: ITALY and Belgium 3 points, Finland and Netherlands 0

Matchday 2 (Saturday 23 March)
Belgium vs. ITALY (12:00 CET, Myyrmäki Stadium in Vantaa)*
Netherlands vs. Finland (17:30 CET, Myyrmäki Stadium in Vantaa)

Matchday 3 (Tuesday 26 March)
Netherlands vs. Belgium (12:00 CET, Mustapekka Areena in Helsinki)
ITALY vs. Finland (12:00 CET, Myyrmäki Stadium in Vantaa)*

*live on the FIGC website