Italy drew Slovakia, Spain and Romania for the Euro Under-21 finals
03 December 2024
Five goals against Livorno in the friendly in Tirrenia: a brace from Esposito, with Raimondo, Turicchia, and Casadei also getting on the scoresheet.
A solid friendly for the Azzurrini, who are preparing for the match on Tuesday in Trieste against Ireland, who will be facing Norway on Friday. A victory for the Norwegians would mathematically qualify Nunziata's team for the European Championship with 90 minutes to spare.Thursday, October 10, 2024
Today's friendly in Tirrenia ended 5-0, with the Under-21 national team defeating Livorno (Serie D). The match served as a warm-up for Carmine Nunziata's players ahead of Tuesday's crucial clash at the Stadio Nereo Rocco in Trieste against Ireland, which is vital for qualification to the final stage of the European Championship. Italy started strong, scoring two goals in the first 8 minutes through Antonio Raimondo and Riccardo Turicchia. In the second half, they added three more goals. The third came in the 59th minute from Cesare Casadei, followed by a brace from Pio Esposito, with the first of his two goals coming from a penalty.
Here are the 11 players who started the match: Zacchi, Savona, Bertola, Pirola, Turicchia, Ndour, Bianco, Fabbian, Baldanzi, Koleosho, and Raimondo. Livorno, coached by Paolo Indiani, also features players with experience in higher divisions, such as striker Federico Dionisi and midfielder Andrea Luci.
“I thank Livorno for giving us the opportunity to play this friendly”, commented Nunziata after the match. “The important thing is that no one got injured and that everything went well. The important match is the one on Tuesday".
Italy will hold a morning training session tomorrow on a day that could still be decisive. At 20:00 CEST in Cork, Ireland will face Norway, and a victory for the Norwegians would mathematically secure Italy's place in Slovakia.
Mediagallery
Nazionale U21
Amichevole a Tirrenia: cinque gol degli Azzurrini al Livorno
PLAYERS CALLED UP
Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Palermo), Jacopo Sassi (Modena), Gioele Zacchi (Latina);
Defenders: Nicolò Bertola (Spezia), Giovanni Bonfanti (Pisa), Daniele Ghilardi (Hellas Verona), Michael Olabode Kayode (Fiorentina), Marco Palestra (Atalanta), Lorenzo Pirola (Olympiacos), Nicolò Savona (Juventus), Riccardo Turicchia (Catanzaro), Mattia Zanotti (Lugano);
Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Roma), Alessandro Bianco (Monza), Edoardo Bove (Fiorentina), Cesare Casadei (Chelsea), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Cher Ndour (Besiktas), Matteo Prati (Cagliari);
Forwards: Giuseppe Ambrosino (Frosinone), Francesco Pio Esposito (Spezia), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Luca Koleosho (Burnley), Antonio Raimondo (Venezia)
2025 UEFA EURO UNDER-21 QUALIFYING - GROUP A
Friday 11 October
18:30 – Türkiye vs. Latvia
20:00 Republic of Ireland vs. Norway
Tuesday 15 October
18:30 – ITALY vs. Republic of Ireland
18:30 – Norway vs. Türkiye
18:30 – San Marino vs. Latvia
Table (number of games played in brackets): ITALY (9) 21 points, Republic of Ireland (8) 17, Norway (8) 15, Türkiye (8) 10, Latvia (8) 8, San Marino (9) 0
Friday, 11 October
11:00 CEST: Training (open to media)
Saturday, 12 October
11:00 CEST: Training (closed to media)
14:00 CEST: Player press conference (Zoom and in-person)
Sunday, 13 October
10:30 CEST: Training (closed to media)
16:39 CEST: Train from Florence SMN to Trieste Centrale and transfer to NH Trieste Hotel
Exclusive player interview for Domenica Sportiva (Rai)
Monday, 14 October
14:15 CEST: Nunziata press conference (Zoom and in-person)
18:30 CEST: Training at Stadio Nereo Rocco (first 15 minutes open to media)
Tuesday, 15 October
18:30 CEST: ITALY vs Ireland (at Stadio Nereo Rocco, Trieste, live on Rai 2)
Followed by a press conference and dissolution of the delegation.
