Italy Women’s work in New Zealand continues, with the Azzurre fully focused and motivated by the desire to impress everyone again. Yesterday’s session helped shake off the effects of the long journey, and, although a few more days will be needed to completely overcome the jet lag and adapt to the new time zone, the team are now stepping things up. “There are positive feelings,” said Milena Bertolini following training at Shepherds Park today. “We’re in a special country far away from Italy. The people here have given us a wonderful welcome and there’s real enthusiasm. Obviously, we have to adapt to the climate. There are four seasons in a day, as they say here: we go from sun to wind and then to rain in a matter of hours. However, everything’s going well.”

Italy’s match against Argentina, scheduled for 8:00 CEST on 24 July at Eden Park in Auckland, is rapidly closing in. Following a two-week training camp in Italy, the Head Coach explained what lies ahead for the team in the next 16 days before their World Cup opener: “After a few sessions to adapt, we’ll start to focus on technique and tactics given we did our fitness work in that two-week period in Italy. Now, we need to work as much as possible on the pitch and test out different match situations. We can’t wait to play in this brilliant setting; the stadiums are fantastic with a lot of character.”

Out of the 25 Azzurre players currently in New Zealand, six were born after 2000 and, of them, three are under the age of 20. Now, they are dreaming about making a significant contribution to the team’s World Cup campaign. In Italy’s friendly against Morocco, Bertolini gave starts to 19-year-old Severini and 18-year-old Beccari, while she then also sent on 16-year-old Dragoni, a rising star of Italian football, for her debut in the second half. “I expect them to do well because they’ve earned their place in this group. They need to seize this opportunity, taking advantage of it in the immediate future but also in the years to come.”

It's a completely different situation for the experienced Girelli, who, after 53 goals in 103 matches for Italy, can’t wait to take part in her second World Cup. There’s no better person to explain to the youngest members of the squad what it means to wear the Azzurre shirt: “Cristiana is certainly a leader, although we have several in this team,” concluded the Head Coach. “She’ll be wearing the captain’s armband because she’s done a lot and continues to do a lot for the National Team.”