At 15:30 CEST tomorrow, the Under-19 National Team will play their opening fixture in the European Championship qualifying round as the Azzurrini look to eventually make it to the final tournament in Slovakia next June. Italy have been drawn in Group 12 alongside Lithuania, Iceland and Slovenia, the latter of whom are hosting the first qualification stage. After facing the Lithuanians at the Bakovci Stadium, the Azzurrini will take on Iceland on Saturday 9 October (another 15:30 CEST kick-off at the Bakovci Stadium) and the Slovenians on Tuesday 12 October (at 15:30 CEST at the Trate Gornja Radgona). The top two in each of the 13 groups will progress to the Elite Round (the second qualifying stage), as will the third-place team with the best record against the first and second-place sides in their group.

Italy, who arrived in Moravske Toplice two days ago, are thus ready to return to European qualifying action, with the last two editions of the tournament having been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The U19s last took to the pitch to play a Euro qualification fixture in November 2019. Back then, under the leadership of Alberto Bollini, they comfortably progressed through the first qualifying phase thanks to wins over Slovakia, Cyprus and Malta.

Carmine Nunziata has called up 20 players for the upcoming matches, all of whom were born in 2003 apart from Roma midfielder Giacomo Faticanti and Lanerossi Vicenza striker Tommaso Mancini (both born in 2004). It’s a National Team that has been freshly put together and recently played friendlies against Albania (a 1-0 win), England (a 2-0 defeat) and the Netherlands (a 3-0 victory) between mid-August and the beginning of September. Now, the competitive action is beginning: “They will all be difficult matches,” the Head Coach warned. “This especially applies to tomorrow’s game because it’s the first one and it’s usually vital in such tournaments. Lithuania are a very physical team and have players with good technical quality. We have three battles ahead of us where the physical side of things will play a major role. We’ll have to play as well as we possibly can, with the outcome depending solely on us.”

Italy U19s have faced their Lithuanian counterparts on just one occasion. This was in 2002, when a side coached by Paolo Berrettini and containing the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Alberto Aquilani and Giampaolo Pazzini ran out 3-1 winners during the first phase of Euro qualifying. A year later, that same team would beat Portugal 2-0 in Liechtenstein, thus winning Italy’s last European Championship trophy in this age category. That was in 2003, which is when nearly all of the players involved in the current setup were born.

The Azzurrini came close to being crowned European champions in 2016 and 2018, finishing runners-up on both occasions following defeats to France and Portugal. However, many players who played for those two sides have since gone on to reach high levels in the game, including Pessina, Locatelli, Barella, Chiesa, Dimarco, Cutrone, Meret, Tonali, Zaniolo, Kean, Pinamonti and Scamacca.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Milan), Gioele Zacchi (Sassuolo);

Defenders: Diego Coppola (Hellas Verona), Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Fiorentina), Gabriele Mulazzi (Juventus), Thomas Sandon (Vicenza), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta);

Midfielders: Cesare Casadei (Inter), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Giovanni Fabbian (Inter), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Fabio Miretti (Juventus), Federico Zuccon (Atalanta);

Forwards: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Destiny Efosa Egharevba (Fiorentina), Degnand Wilfred Gnonto  (Zurigo), Henoc Stephane N’Gbesso (Spezia), Tommaso Mancini (Vicenza).

Staff: Head Coach: Carmine Nunziata; Delegation Head: Gianfranco Serioli, Assistant Coach: Emanuele Filippini; Fitness Coach: Vito Azzone; Goalkeeping Coach: Fabrizio Ferron; Match Analyst: Marco Mannucci; Doctors: Carmelo Papotto and Lorenzo Ticca; Physiotherapists: Giuseppe Galli and Riccardo Torquati; Nutritionist: Alessio Colli; Scout: Claudio Coppi; Secretary: Aldo Blessich; Tutor: Stefano Presciuttire

Match schedule (all times CEST)

Wednesday 6 October

ITALY vs. Lithuania, 15:30 - SRC Bakovci Stadium

Iceland vs. Slovenia, 15:30 - TSC Trate Gornja Radgona

Saturday 9 October

ITALY vs. Iceland, 15:30 - SRC Bakovci Stadium

Slovenia vs. Lithuania, 15:30 -  TSC Trate Gornja Radgona

Tuesday 12 October

Slovenia vs. ITALY, 15:30 - TSC Trate Gornja Radgona

Lithuania vs. Iceland, 15:30 – Sportni Park Radenci