Lamine Ballo played his very first game in an Azzurri shirt on a wonderful debut that saw Italy beat Poland 2-0 in the Euros clash in Larnaca.

The player spoke: “It was an amazing feeling as I never thought I’d do something like this. I’ve been waiting to be eligible to play for Italy for years and when I was called up, I called my parents and jumped for joy. I am really proud to be here”. Coming on for Emanuel in the 61st minute, this pride was clear. He made a key block before providing the assist for Coletta to double the lead. The Inter right-back said: “As soon as Coach Favo called me, I was so happy. I couldn’t wait to play. Aside from the personal satisfaction, I wanted to help my teammates at an important moment in the game”. On the trust of his teammates and Italy’s ambitions, he added: “We can certainly go to the end because we are a good group, very strong, and more than anything, united”.

Born on 10 May 2007 in Adzopé, Ivory Coast, he moved to Piacenze at the age of one with his family. He began to play football in January 2015 at amateur side Fontana Audax in Emilia-Romagna before entering the Inter youth sector in August 2017. The player is part of the current Inter Under-17 side coached by Tiziano Polenghi and is the most-used player this season with 25 appearances and 2213 minutes played.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship

Group stage

Group A: Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia, Czechia.
Group B: Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Wales.
Group C: ITALY, Sweden, Slovakia, Poland.
Group D: France, Portugal, Spain, England.

Group C schedule

Matchday 1 (Tuesday 21 May)

Slovakia 0-0 Sweden
ITALY 2-0 Poland

Matchday 2 (Thursday 24 May)

17:00 CEST: ITALY vs. Slovakia, Dasaki Achnas Stadium in Dasaki
17:00 CEST: Sweden vs. Poland, AEK Arena in Larnaca

Matchday 3 (Monday 27 May)

17:00 CEST: Sweden vs. ITALY, Paralimni Municipal Stadium Tasos Markou in Paralimni
17:00 CEST: Poland vs. Slovakia, Dasaki Achnas Stadium in Dasaki

Knockout phase

Quarter-finals (Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 May)

Semi-finals (Sunday 2 June)

Final (Wednesday 5 June)