In just over a week, the Under-21 National Team will play for the first time at the European Championship which is being hosted by Italy for the first time. With five tournament wins, Italy are the most successful side in the history of the competition. At the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna on Sunday 16 June, the second-most successful nation Spain will be the opponents. "I know that I have an excellent side," said the Coach. "It’s a strong team but I also know the format of this tournament and what the risks could be. We’re playing at home and I can only see the benefits of that. I say that we need to make the most of this external strength, this great enthusiasm. I’m naturally optimistic. Everyone is asking us to win it and we’ll try to."

After confirming his 23-man squad yesterday, Di Biagio then discussed the decision that he was forced to make in leaving Calabria out due to injury. "We’ve lost an element in the side that would have been one of the first picks but his condition means that it would have been a risk. Health comes before everything, he wasn’t in condition to go until the end. This affected my decision a bit and I have other players in that position who aren’t in ideal shape like Adjapong and Depaoli. But in the end, I’m very calm. Will I take reserves? Compared to other years, I don’t want to take guys who will be redundant as it’s not nice. Someone could rejoin in case of injury or perhaps not. Decisions have to made looking at every angle, if a player gets hurt before the 15th then we’ll make a decision."

Other players are in the squad that will be in action on Saturday and Tuesday for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina: "We have to evaluate them, guys like Kean and Chiesa. Out of the attackers, I’ve remained with Cutrone so we need to weigh everything up. Plans can change every six hours and we’re in constant contact with the various staffs. I’m also very sorry for Luca Pellegrini, he should have been with us like Pinamonti. He played a lot this year in Serie A but to have two guys coming midway through the month could have been a problem."

Work continues ahead of the Spain game and Di Biagio considers them to be "A team with excellent players but we’re also very strong and I don’t think that they’ll be happy to face us."

"Preparation has been going well here at Formello, we’re getting players back after they weren’t in top shape. Then, the matches will tell us if we’ve done the right things. In the past friendlies, we haven’t got that many wins but the performances have been there and we’ve prepared eight or ten players for the senior side. This is the most important victory, we were asked to relaunch youth football and we’re doing a lot more than we could before. The cherry on the cake is the only thing lacking, the last piece in the puzzle. Let’s hope to win something with the Under-21, Under-20 or Under-19 side but the work done already is the most important thing."

The team will train for the final time tomorrow ahead of a short break following the end of the first stage of training. Training will continue on Monday in Casteldebole at Bologna FC’s training ground.

Squad list for the European Championship

Goalkeepers: Emil Audero (Sampdoria), Alex Meret (Napoli), Lorenzo Montipò (Benevento);

Defenders: Claud Adjapong (Sassuolo), Alessandro Bastoni (Parma), Kevin Bonifazi (Spal), Arturo Calabresi (Bologna), Federico Dimarco (Parma), Gianluca Mancini (Atalanta), Giuseppe Pezzella (Genoa), Filippo Romagna (Cagliari);

Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Cagliari), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Rolando Mandragora (Udinese), Alessandro Murgia (Spal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma);

Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Patrick Cutrone (Milan), Moise Bioty Kean (Juventus), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Andrea Pinamonti (Frosinone).

Staff – Delegation Head: Massimo Ambrosini; Team Manager: Vincenzo Marinelli; National Teams Co-ordinator: Maurizio Viscidi; Head Coach: Luigi Di Biagio; Secretary: Mauro Vladovich; Assistant Coaches: Massimo Mutarelli, Carmine Nunziata; Fitness Coach: Vito Azzone; Goalkeeper Coach: Antonio Chimenti; Match analyst: Filippo Lorenzon; Doctors: Angelo De Carli and Luca Gatteschi; Nutritionist: Cristian Petri; Physiotherapists: Enzo Paolini, Alfonso Casano, Emiliano Bozzetti. National teams department: Manfredi Martino.

Schedule

Friday 7 June

16:00 Press conference with the Coach

17:00 Training (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Saturday 8 June

10:30 Training (closed)

13:00 Lunch

Training camp to end and players return home

Schedule for the European Championship

Monday 10 June

Meet at 12:00 CEST at the Admiral Park Hotel –  Bologna

16:15 meeting with the press (player)

17:00 training at Casteldebole (open to the public)

Tuesday 11 June 2019

10:00 training (closed-door)

16:15 meeting with the press (player)

17:00 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Wednesday 12 June 2019

11:00 Official photo at Casteldebole

18:00 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Thursday 13 June 2019

10:00 training (closed-door)

16:15 meeting with the press (two players)

17:00 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Friday 14 June 2019

10:30 training (closed-door)

13:30 Exclusive interview with UEFA.COM (Di Biagio and one player)

Saturday 15 June 2019

17:00 UEFA press conference at the Stadio “Dall’Ara”

17:30 training at the “Dall’Ara” in Bologna (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Sunday 16 June 2019

21:00 ITALY – SPAIN at the Stadio “Dall’Ara” in Bologna

Monday 17 June 2019

16:30 meeting with the press (player)

17:30 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Tuesday 18 June 2019

15:30 UEFA press conference at the Stadio “Dall’Ara”

17:30 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Wednesday 19 June 2019

21:00 ITALY – POLAND at the Stadio “Dall’Ara” in Bologna

Thursday 20 June 2019

16:30 meeting with the press (player)

17:30 training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

Friday 21 June 2019

10:45   training at Casteldebole (first 15 minutes open to the press)

18:00  transfer to the Stadio “Città del Tricolore”

19:15  walk around at the Stadio “Città del Tricolore”  before then heading to the Hotel Boiardo

19:30 UEFA press conference at the Stadio “Città del Tricolore”

 

Saturday 22 June 2019

21:00  BELGIUM – ITALY at the Stadio “Città del Tricolore” in Reggio Emilia

Saturday 23 June 2019

Players depart from the squad should they be eliminated.

Olympic Play-Off

28 June 21:00 in Cesena

European Championship final 30 June 2019

20:45   Stadio Friuli in Udine