Everything hangs on the next 90 minutes. Tomorrow evening’s game in Maribor against hosts Slovenia (at 21:00 CEST) will determine whether Italy qualify for the quarter-finals of the Euros. “It will be a tough match,” Coach Paolo Nicolato warned during the press conference on the eve of the game, “they are the hosts and they know that the local media is covering them a lot. For Slovenia it’s a once in a lifetime situation, they’re a team that rarely concede and they have a very patriotic spirit and players with a great mindset.”

After drawing against both the Czech Republic and Spain, the Under21 side are still fighting for one of the two spots up for grabs to go on to the next round: if they win against Slovenia then qualification is guaranteed, but in the case that they draw again, Spain would have to either beat or draw against the Czech Republic and if they drew the Azzurrini would have to score two more goals than the Czechs. Previous games suggest that the odds are in Italy’s favour: out of nine games, they have won eight and drawn one.

But this time Nicolato is forced to re-assess the situation and change the team after the sending offs of Scamacca and Rovella. “There are 15 outfield players left to choose from, ten plus five on the bench, we don’t have a lot of options and this is regrettable for us. Against Spain,” he emphasised, “at times we were too nervous but we also had it easy at times. I remain firmly grounded in reality, as far as I’m concerned our behaviour wasn’t that bad, I don’t think that a heavy-handed referee is good for football. I’m in favour of deserved punishments, but in the vast majority of cases the gravity of the fouls was exaggerated. Neither extreme is a good thing. This competition mustn’t be seen as a pilot, physical contact is part of our sport and unsporting, violent actions must be punished. We also have to look at these things on a case-by-case basis, brushing someone with your hand can’t be treated like an elbow-blow.” After the four sending offs in the first two games, Nicolato is convinced of the need to ‘use the absences as a way to unite the team and strengthen it’. He continued: “I don’t want to know the result from the other match, we must concern ourselves solely with the challenge that we ourselves face. Anything else is just a distraction, we’ll review the situation once the match is over.”

Spain’s U21 coach Luis De la Fuente referred to the Azzurri as ‘unsporting’. “I think he’s missed the mark there,” Nicolato responded, “passion and aggression are things that I expect from my side, but I didn’t see any violent tackles from my lads against the Spaniards. Actually, I noticed that it was the opponents who aggravated some situations. His team has scored against everyone for four years now but the only lead they had on us was an extra man. Maybe that’s why he’s not happy. The sending offs of Tonali and Rovella were fair and we can’t excuse them. But we were never nasty and this situation is for referees to decide.

Patrick Cutrone will be playing tomorrow evening in Maribor. “I hope so, he deserves it,” the Azzurri coach concluded, “he’s not had much playing time for a few years now and this isn’t ideal for him. But he has great will to play and he isn’t selfish.”

 

Group B calendar, results and standings

 

Matchday One (24 March)

Czech Republic vs ITALY 1-1

Slovenia vs Spain 0-3

Matchday Two (27 March)

Slovenia vs Czech Republic 1-1

ITALY vs Spain 0-0

As it stands: Four points for Spain, two for ITALY and Czech Republic, one for Slovenia

Matchday Three (30 March)

21:00 CEST: Spain vs Czech Republic

21:00 CEST: ITALY vs Slovenia

Schedule

(All times are CEST unless otherwise stated)

Monday 29 March

11:00 – Training at Sportni Park Nk Aluminij - Kidricevo, Slovenia (first 15 minutes open to the press)

14:00 – Press conference via Zoom (Nicolato + one player)

16:00 – Technical training

19:00 – Walk around Maribor stadium

Tuesday 30 March Wednesday 31 March 

19:00 – Technical training followed by departure for Maribor Stadium Flight departs from Maribor to Malpensa followed by Malpensa to Fiumicino

21:00 – ITALY vs SLOVENIA followed by a press conference via Zoom (Nicolato + two players) and return to hotel

Wednesday 31 March 

Flight departs from Maribor to Malpensa followed by Malpensa to Fiumicino