The enthusiasm for this new era is palpable at Coverciano. It’s the first day of new head coach Soncin’s first training camp and there’s plenty of desire to go again and “show our worth, especially to ourselves”, as Elena Linari outlined when she spoke to the press today.

 “Our new Head Coach has made a good first impression,” the Roma player continued. “We really want to get back to it. We need to have the hunger to always give 100%, no matter who we’re playing against. We want to stay together as a group, tight-knit as it was at the World Cup, even if results didn’t reflect that. That fact that the new coach has no experience in women’s football means nothing: it’s football, it’s the same sport. There are, of course, certain dynamics that he needs to understand but I think the whole staff is there to do well.”

Valentina Bergamaschi didn’t travel Down Under for the Women’s World Cup, but now she’s back at Coverciano with an infectious smile on her face. “I’m pleased to be back with this group, which I missed, and I’m proud to have a head coach, who comes from a different environment to ours,” she said.

Full focus is on the Azzurre’s two upcoming Nations League fixtures, which put them against Switzerland in St Gallen and Sweden in Castel di Sangro. “I’m happy that we have such a tough group [with Spain also in it], because these are the games that help us to group,” Bergamaschi concluded. “It won’t be easy against Switzerland but, first of all, we need to focus on ourselves.”

 

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Roberta Aprile (Juventus), Rachele Baldi (Fiorentina), Laura Giuliani (Milan), Katja Schroffenegger (Fiorentina);
Defenders: Elisa Bartoli (Roma), Valentina Bergamaschi (Milan), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Roma), Maria Luisa Filangeri (Sassuolo), Sara Gama (Juventus), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (Roma), Beatrice Merlo (Inter), Benedetta Orsi (Sassuolo), Alice Tortelli (Fiorentina);
Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Valentina Cernoia (Milan), Giulia Dragoni (Barcelona), Aurora Galli (Everton), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Giada Greggi (Roma);
Attackers: Chiara Beccari (Sassuolo), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Agnese Bonfantini (Inter), Sofia Cantore (Juventus), Valentina Giacinti (Roma), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Benedetta Glionna (Roma), Martina Piemonte (Everton), Annamaria Serturini (Roma).