The moment of truth has arrived. Three months after starting their journey towards EURO 2025, and after 15 days of training camp, the Women's National Team are ready to fight for automatic qualification to the tournament in the last two matches in Group 1: tomorrow against the Netherlands in Sittard (20:45 CEST), and then the showdown with Finland in Bolzano on Tuesday (19:00 CEST), 180 minutes that will establish whether Italy, third in the table due to a worse goal difference than Norway's, will immediately book their plane ticket for Switzerland or go through the play-offs, scheduled between the end of October and the beginning of December.

One step at a time. The head coach of the Azzurre, joined on the trip to the Netherlands by the FIGC's general secretary, Marco Brunelli, is only focused on the game with the group leaders, beaten 2-0 in the opening group fixure: “We are preparing for it looking at every detail. The team will go out with the desire and pride of being able to achieve something great", began Andrea Soncin in the press conference on the eve of the match. “In this camp, we've been together a lot and this has allowed us to get to know each other even better. We've touched upon various topics and also some issues; it's been a useful exchange and the girls have responded really well. If I called up 33 players it's because they all shpwed that they wanted to be part of the group."

The coach is certain that it will be a different match to the one played on 5 April in Cosenza. In front of their fans, with the contribution of their star player, Miedema, out in the reverse game, and with the knowledge that three points would guarantee thire plane ticket to Switzerland, it is reasonable to expect an Oranje side with more intensity, but Andrea Soncin's Azzurre will certainly not be intimidated. In the Nations League, they came close to winning in Sweden and achieved a historic win in Andalusia against the world champions, Spain. Italy know how to do it and at the Fortuna Stadion, in front of around 10 thousand spectators, they will be looking for their first away win in these qualifiers. “It will be a different match," he added, "due to the importance of it and how we manage our emotions, but the application and openness of the girls is always the same. We know we can beat anyone. We are focused on our identity, tactically and mentally. We will have to play our game and be good at reading the moments."

Before passing over to Giada Greggi, speaking of his close relationship with all the Serie A and Serie B coaches, Soncin dedicated a thought to the late Fabio Melillo, a person who "on and off the pitch always conveyed great values". Shortly after, the Roma midfielder began answering journalists' questions, starting from a memory of the coach who developed her, valued and protected her, taking her away from men's football (until 2013 Giada, with her immense talent, played with the boys) and making her debut in Serie A at just 14 years old.

“He was a great coach and a great man," she said emotionally, also speaking on behalf of Arianna Caruso and many other footballers. "He passed on very important values ​​and trust to us, but also his passion for football, his sense of belonging to the shirt and the desire to never give up, always working with great humility and with a smile on his face. He did so much for us and the whole movement. Tomorrow, I will think of him and I will have extra motivation: if I'm wearing this shirt and I've achieved great things with my club, it is above all thanks to him."

Returning to the game ​​with the Netherlands, Greggi wanted to express all her confidence in the quality of this Italy team. “We don't have to be afraid of anyone because we are strong," concluded the 24-year-old, who already has 22 caps for the national team. "It will be a very tough match. We will face it head on while respecting the quality of our opponent. In recent weeks, we have shared many things together; we have worked hard, made sacrifices and worked on our group togetherness. We will set off at a hundred miles per hour to show our opponents that we want to win."

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Rachele Baldi (Fiorentina), Laura Giuliani (Milan), Katja Schroffenegger (Fiorentina), Margot Shore (Hellas Verona);
Defenders: Elisa Bartoli (Roma), Valentina Bergamaschi (Juventus), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Lucia Di Guglielmo (Roma), Maria Luisa Filangeri, Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Elena Linari (Roma), Elisabetta Oliviero, Julie Piga (Milan), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Angelica Soffia (Milan);
Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Giulia Dragoni (Barcelona), Aurora Galli, Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Giada Greggi (Roma), Eva Schatzer (Juventus), Emma Severini (Fiorentina);
Forwards: Chiara Beccari (Juventus), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus), Agnese Bonfantini (Juventus), Michela Cambiaghi (Inter), Sofia Cantore (Juventus), Michela Catena (Fiorentina), Valentina Giacinti (Roma), Benedetta Glionna (Roma), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Martina Piemonte (Everton), Annamaria Serturini (Inter).

Calendar, results and table of Group 1 (League A)

Matchday 1: ITALY 2-0 Netherlands, Norway 4-0 Finland

Matchday 2: Finland 2-1 ITALY, Netherlands 1-0 Norway 

Matchday 3: Norway 0-0 ITALY, Netherlands 1-0 Finland 

Matchday 4: Finlandia 1-1 Netherlands, ITALY 1-1 Norway

Matchday 5 (12 July): Netherlands vs. ITALY (20:45 CEST, Sittard), Finland vs. Norway (19;00 local time, 18:00 CEST, Turku)

Matchday 6 (16 July): ITALY vs. Finland (19:00 CEST, Bozen), Norway vs. Netherlands (19:00 CEST, Bergen)

Table: Netherlands 7 points, Norway and ITALY 5, Finland 4