There’s one week to go to a match that could decide the fate of the Women’s National Team as they look to qualify for the 2022 European Championship, which will be held in England. At 17:15 CET on Tuesday 1 December, Italy will face Denmark in Viborg, with the Danes having already secured their spot in the final tournament thanks to their win in Empoli a month ago.

The Azzurre met up at Coverciano yesterday to begin their preparations for their final – and most important – game of the year. This morning, the players (with the exception of those who play for Roma and Fiorentina: in agreement with the local heath authorities, they’ll join up with the squad in the afternoon) did recovery work following a weekend of cup action. At 15:00 CET this afternoon, an almost complete squad will take to the training pitch.

Ahead of the match, Italy will start off by looking at where they went wrong on 27 October, when a few too many mistakes allowed the Danes to emerge victorious. “In a week’s time, we need to try to be more attentive and not give so much away. There needs to be more determination in our approach,” said Head Coach Milena Bertolini in her press conference today. “In Empoli, we tried to take the game to them, passing the ball and playing proactively. Their first goal affected us emotionally and a bit of panic set in. Irrespective of the result, we learnt many important things with the future in mind.”

Given the situation in the other groups, a point could be vital. After all, the three best-ranked second-placed teams will qualify directly for the final tournament. However, the Head Coach doesn’t want to make calculations: “We always take to the pitch with the objective of winning. It’s clear that it’ll be important to pick up points in Denmark: we’ll need to remain focused throughout the 90 minutes without thinking about results from the other groups.”

After a long injury that kept her out for almost two months, Sara Gama is back in the squad. This also applies to Alia Guagni, who is ready to fight for a place in the starting line-up after a long period spent in quarantine: “Having the captain and vice-captain back with us is important,” concluded Bertolini. “Gama is back after a long time out, while Guagni has unfortunately not been able to train on a continuous basis recently. We’ll need to assess their conditions attentively.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Roberta Aprile (Inter), Rachele Baldi* (AS Roma), Laura Giuliani (Juventus), Katja Schroffenegger* (Fiorentina);

Defenders: Elisa Bartoli* (AS Roma), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Empoli), Sara Gama (Juventus), Alia Guagni (Atletico Madrid), Maria Luisa Filangeri (Sassuolo), Laura Fusetti (AC Milan), Elena Linari (Bordeaux), Tecla Pettenuzzo* (AS Roma), Alice Tortelli* (Fiorentina), Linda Tucceri Cimini (AC Milan);

Midfielders: Valentina Bergamaschi (AC Milan), Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus), Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano* (AS Roma), Gloria Marinelli (Inter), Marta Mascarello* (Fiorentina), Cecilia Prugna (Empoli), Martina Rosucci (Juventus);

Forwards: Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Sofia Cantore (Florentia San Gimignano), Valentina Giacinti (AC Milan), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Elisa Polli (Empoli), Daniela Sabatino* (Fiorentina), Stefania Tarenzi (Inter).

Schedule (all times CET) 

Tuesday 24 November
13:00 Press conference (Head Coach)
15:00 Training

Wednesday 25 November
9:30 Training
15:00 Training

Thursday 26 November
15:00 Training

Friday 27 November
9:30 Training
15:00 Training

Saturday 28 November
15:00 Training

Sunday 29 November
9:30 Training
13:20 Transfer from Florence to Venice Marco Polo Airport followed by chartered flight to Billund

Monday 30 November
17:15 Training at the Vibrog Stadium

Tuesday 1 December
17:15 Denmark vs. Italy

Wednesday 2 December
10:00 Return to Italy