After narrowly winning their opening European Championship match against Romania (2-1, goals from Baldanzi and Volpato) two days ago, the U19s are preparing to face Slovakia in Trnava. At 17:30 CEST tomorrow, the Azzurrini will be looking to qualify for the semi-finals and secure their spot at the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia with a game to spare. Should Nunziata’s team emerge victorious and France avoid defeat to Romania (20:00 CEST on Wednesday), Italy will be mathematically assured of their spot in the final four.

But before thinking about anything else, the Azzurrini need to do the job against Slovakia, who lost convincingly against the French in their opening fixture (5-0): “They’ll give absolutely everything,” said Fabio Miretti, who missed out on the first game due to suspension. “It’s their last chance. They’re a very physical side and will have the home crowd behind them. It’ll certainly be a tough match.” The Juventus midfielder, who has just been involved with the U21s, has made himself available to Nunziata and is thus foregoing time off: “I’m young and will have time to go on holiday,” continued Fabio. “I’m too attached to this group. We overcame the two qualifying phases together and I want to go all the way with everyone else.”

Yesterday, the first Group B matches took place: England beat Austria 2-0, while Israel and Serbia played out a 2-2 draw.

Groups

Group A.  Slovakia, Romania, Italy, France

Group B. England, Israel, Serbia, Austria

Results and standings

Saturday 18 June

Slovakia 0-5 France

Italy 2-1 Romania

Standings: France and Italy 3 points, Romania, Slovakia 0

Tuesday 21 June

Slovakia vs. Italy (17:30, Trnava)

Romania vs. France (20:00, Dunajská Streda)

Friday 24 June

Group A: Romania vs. Slovakia (17:30, Trnava)

Group A: France vs. Italy (17:30, Dunajská Streda)

FIFA U-20 World Cup play-off:

Tuesday 28 June
Third place Group A vs. Third place Group B (17:00, Senec)

Semi-finals:

Tuesday 28 June
SF1: Winner Group A vs. Runner-up Group B (17:00 or 20:00, Trnava or Dunajská Streda)
SF2: Winner Group B vs. Runner-up Group A (17:00 or 20:00, Trnava or Dunajská Streda)

Final:

Friday 1 July
Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2 (20:00, Trnava)

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Milan), Gioele Zacchi (Sassuolo);

Defenders: Diego Coppola (Hellas  Verona), Alessandro Fontanarosa (Inter), Daniele Ghilardi (Hellas Verona, Gabriele Mulazzi (Juventus), Riccardo Stivanello (Bologna), Filippo Terracciano (Hellas Verona), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus);

Midfielders: Cesare Casadei (Inter), Duccio Degli Innocenti (Empoli), Giovanni Fabbian (Inter), Giacomo Faticanti (Roma), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Samuel Giovane (Atalanta), Fabio Miretti (Juventus);

Forwards: Giuseppe Ambrosino Di Bruttopilo (Napoli), Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli), Marco Nasti (Milan), Cristian Volpato (Roma).