The countdown towards the UEFA eEURO 2020 final phase is shortening, with the first ever virtual European Championship being played on Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer on PlayStation 4 this weekend, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May. Italy are amongst the 16 finalist thanks to their brilliant qualifying run that produced eight wins, one draw and only one loss.

The success in the ‘eNations Friendly Cup’, the quadrangular friendly tournament that saw TIMVISION PES eNazionale up against Finland and two other European finalists, Germany and Luxembourg, confirmed the great potential of the team composed of Rosario 'Npk_02' Accurso, Nicola 'nicaldan' Lillo, Carmine 'Naples17x' Liuzzi and Alfonso 'AlonsoGrayfox' Mereu.

These four will represent Italy in the tournament, with their first game starting tomorrow at 13:15 CEST against Denmark, before they play Serbia and Turkey who make up Group B. Roberto Mancini even sent a message of support for the eNazionale side: “Wishing the eNazionale the best of luck, we’ll be cheering you on. Do yourselves justice and Forza Italia!” were the Azzurri Head Coach’s words.

The group stage encounters will the best of two matches, with a third match to be played in the case of a draw. The top two from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, which, as well as the semi-finals, will be the best of three matches. Meanwhile, the final will be best of five.

“Representing Italy at the Euros is a dream come true,” said Nicola ‘nicaldan’ Lillo, who also stated that the four have formed a great friendship that was strengthened even more by quarantine. Born 33 years ago in Naples, ‘nicaldan’ was chosen as team captain by his teammates: “I’m the oldest and most experience member of the group, so the guys decided that I’d lead the way. All four of us will definitely play in the group-stage matches, then it’ll come down to who is playing best.”

The Italian team is made up of three guys from Naples (‘nicaldan’, ‘Npk_02’ and ‘Naples17x’) and a Sardinian (‘AlonsoGrayfox’). The skipper emphasised that “Carmine is the most talented of the group, while Rosario is known as the ‘iceman’ for his cool head and Alfonso’s special weapon is the counterattack. Each of us has a different style, which could prove to be advantageous.”

Having trained between three to four hours each day, they have created a close-knit group and are aware of their rivals’ ability: “the most formidable rival is undoubtedly Serbia, with ‘Kepa’ and ‘Roksa’, while Denmark are also very strong, and Turkey shouldn’t be underestimated.” Although they aren’t favourites, that would be France, they aren’t shy of believing they can fulfil their dream and win the competition.

All of Italy’s matches will be broadcast live on TIMVISION, on the enazionale.figc.it website and on the new eNazionale Twitch channel. Commentary will be provided by Pierluigi Pardo, Luigi Ragoni and Simone Trimarchi, while results and highlights will be available on the new eNazionale social media profiles: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

UEFA eEURO 2020 final phase groups and schedule

Group A: Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Romania
Group B: Denmark, Turkey, Serbia, ITALY
Group C: Montenegro, Croatia, Holland, Luxembourg
Group D: Austria, Greece, France, Israel

Group B matches (23 May)

13.15 CEST: ITALY vs. Denmark (A)
13.15 CEST: Serbia vs. Turkey (B)
14.45 CEST: match A loser vs. match B loser (C)
17.45 CEST: match A winner vs. match B winner (D) - winner will qualify for quarter-finals
20.45 CEST: match C winner vs. match D loser - winner will qualify for quarter-finals