Carmine Nunziata, the Under-18 National Team Head Coach, has picked 25 players for the upcoming friendly game against Austria U18s. The match will take place at 15:00 CEST on Friday 4 June at the Stadio Gino Colaussi in Gradisca d’Isonzo.

“We are itching to get back out there after such a period of inactivity,” declared Nunziata. “We will have a mixed group, made up of some players that have great experience of the U17s World Cup and others that are new faces to us. It will be interesting to judge these new additions to try to breathe new life into the Azzurri system.”

Of the 25 called up, the majority (22) were born in 2003; the three remaining boys were born in 2004. The side has faced Austria on 24 occasions, winning 11 times, drawing six and losing seven.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Tommaso Bertini (Atalanta), Sebastiano Desplanches (Milan), William Rovida (Inter);

Defenders: Diego Coppola (Hellas Verona), Filippo Fiumanò (Juventus), Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Davide Gentile (Fiorentina), Daniele Ghilardi (Fiorentina), Gabriele Mulazzi (Juventus), Luigi Palomba (Cagliari), Filippo Terracciano (Hellas Verona), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus);

Midfielders: Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Franco Ezequiel Carboni (Inter), Cesare Casadei (Inter), Nicolò Cavuoti (Cagliari), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Destiny Efosa Egharevba (Chievo), Youns Gabriele El Hilali (Milan), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Samuel Giovane (Atalanta);

Forwards: Wilfried Degnand Gnonto (Zurigo),  Henoc Stephane N'gbesso (Milan), Alessio Rosa (Atalanta), Samuele Vignato (Chievo).

Staff: Delegation Head, Gianfranco Serioli; Secretary, Luca Gatto; Head Coach, Carmine Nunziata; Assistant Coaches: Emanuele Filippini and Daniele Zoratto; Goalkeeping Coach, Fabrizio Ferron; Fitness Coach, Marco Montini; Match Analyst, Marco Mannucci; Doctors: Cosma Calderaro and Attilio Romano; Nutritionist, Maria Luisa Cravana, Physiotherapist: Angelo Cartocci; Organiser: Maria Teresa Laiacona