Tomorrow the Azzurrini will play Mexico in their second match at the World Cup. After winning their opener 5-0 against the Solomon Islands two days ago, Italy will face the South Americans who drew 0-0 with Paraguay. The match will be a crucial one for two reasons: firstly because it will be a much tougher fixture than the previous one which Italy cruised through and will therefore be a good test of the ability of this Italy team; but secondly and more importantly, a victory tomorrow would be decisive in the battle for places in the round of 16.

Carmine Nunziata’s boys had a final training session this afternoon during which they fine tuned their patterns of play for the upcoming game. All of the squad are fit and available for selection for tomorrow’s game against a Mexican team who have a long and proud World Cup history. They’ve won the competition two times, (in 2005 and in 2011 when they were the hosts) and they came second in 2013 in the United Arab Emirates where they knocked out Italy in the round of 16 after beating them 2-0. That was the last time the Italians featured in an U17 World Cup. They qualified for the tournament after topping the CONCACAF qualifying group (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football); they won all their matches including beating the USA 2-1 in the final. They are strong team who line up in a 4-4-2. Their key players are their number ten Israel Luna and centre-forward Santiago Munoz but they will need to play the Azzurrini without their captain Eugenio Pizzuto, who was sent off against Paraguay.

Nicolò Cudrig was Italy’s key man against the Solomon Islands as he scored a goal and provided a magnificent assist for Gnoto who scored Italy’s third. He gave his thoughts on that goal and their upcoming game: “I returned him [Gnoto] the favour after he provided the ball for my goal. We linked up really well during the game even though it was the first important match which we had played together. We will need to do more in our next game than we did in our first match. On both a technical level, and also in regard to their character, Mexico is a much more solid team. We’re similar teams, they’re a great group.”

Born in Udine on 7 October 2002, Nicolò’s passion for football began at an early age where he would play endless one-on-one matches with his dad in their garage. He became a Roma fan after seeing Totti play at the 2006 World Cup and his father asked him if he wanted to become a footballer. The answer was obvious and he was immediately enrolled at the football school in Cividale del Friuli. From there he progressed to the Udinese youth teams where he played his first youth league games. He spent last year at Club Brugge, a feeder club for AS Monaco where he now plays his football. At the age of 16 he found himself in a different city speaking a new language and getting used to new customs but he wasn’t discouraged: “It was an important experience, not only from a sporting point of view but from a human one. It was hard at first but now I’m settled in and I feel great here.” He currently plays for Monaco’s U19 team alongside fellow Azzurrini Alessandro Arlotti. With experience from Italy’s U15 to U17 teams, his ultimate ambitions are to play in Serie A and to represent the senior National Team.

But right now he is living the dream out here in Brazil: “From the moment we came onto the pitch at the Bezerrao everything seemed grander to me, it’s a feeling I’d never experienced before.  Tomorrow I’ll give my all to try and get a win. If this group performs like it did in Ireland, we can go far in this competition.”

Group F Fixture List

Monday 28 October
Solomon Islands 0-5 ITALY
Paraguay 0-0 Mexico
Ranking: Italy 3 points, Paraguay and Mexico 1, Solomon Islands 0

Thursday 31 October
Solomon Islands vs. Paraguay (21:00 CET, Estadio Bezerrao, Brasilia)
Mexico vs. ITALY (00:00 CET, Estadio Bezerrao, Brasilia)

Sunday 3 November
ITALY vs. Paraguay (00:00 CET, Estadio Bezerrao, Brasilia)
Mexico vs. Solomon Islands (00:00 CET, Estadio Kleber Andrade, Vitoria)

The top two teams in each group along with the best four third-placed teams will progress to the round of sixteen.