“I want a team that has courage”. In his first official press conference as Women's Head Coach, Andrea Soncin repeated this concept several times. Eight days before his side's opening game in the Nations League against Switzerland, and after a week of meetings and studying with his backroom staff, the first guidenlines for the former Venezia Coach focused on attitude. The first squad of the Soncin era, ahead of the games against Switzerland in San Gallo on Friday 22 and Sweden in Castel di Sangro on Tuesday 26, will be announced tomorrow, Friday 15.

GRAVINA. Welcoming Soncin and his staff was FIGC President Gabriele Gravina. “Just as it was for Luciano Spalletti's presentation press conference, today we add a new chapter to our history books. I believe this is an important day for Women's football, as seen by the presence of everyone at the Federation. It is fundamental we assert this principle, which I am especially connected to and believe it must be publicised in a decisive and determined manner. The Federation directs all its activities for the Women's game with the upmost attention. I'm saddened to have heard and read unjust comments, especially because they are not based on knowledge of what is actually happening. We have invested in Women's football, worked hard to make the players become recognised as  professionals, an important step, above all, culturally. I thank Andrea Soncin for the enthusiasm shown and for having studied deeply our movement. This has also been made possible down to bringing in Viviana Schiavi (Soncin's assistant - Ed.), who brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge of the Women's game."

The National senior team, in fact, is the summit of a movement that the Federation wants to grow from the foundations. “We want a harmonious staff, changing room, and collaboration between all of Club Italia's team members", added Gravina. "We want to value the entire Youth Team setup. The National team reference point is the one led by Andrea Soncin and Viviana Schiavi, but it will be the driving force for all the others. We are counting on Viviana a lot because she knows the Women's game and our organisation well: this will be a strong and outstanding pairing. The decision was made by identifying a route and a project to take us into the future. We identified a coach that has all the right traits to produce good football. If one wants to speak about gender equality inside a selection made from a technical evalution, then I think it is a huge error of judgement."

Besides finding a new head coach, another objective can be added too: recreate an enthusiasm that has somewhat dwindled due to recent results: “To do well, time and trust is needed: as a Federation, we see this in Soncin and his staff, but it also needs to be recognised by the players and everyone involved in representing the movement. Difficult moments will come; we'll have tough games, but Andrea knows how we hold the future and the project. Today, we present the women's movement's focal point, but underneath that we will propose produce levels of investment for the core foundations of the movement. The aim is that this project generates numerical and qualitative effects to compete with organisations that are already established."

SONCIN Besides the concept of bravery, Soncin expressed his feeling on receiving the call from the Federation: "I must thank the President and the FIGC for this huge opportunity given to me", admitted Soncin. "The sensations are a mix of enormous joy and pride: today is an important day for the whole female movement and I'm proud to be a part of it. When the National team calls you don't have time to think: you accept and that's that. Now, though, we need to get down to work to give a call to the entire movement, but from my side there's been a great deal of enthusiasm to get to know something I've only known from afar. So far, we've done a lot of work and made contacts because the National team collects all the Club's work."

Soncin c inomes into the fold in a difficult moment for the Azzurre, after the disappointment of being knocked out of the Euros and World Cup group stages. "Everyone will be considered; I want to assess every player. I have been asked to play football and football is assessed on what is done on the pitch. My concern these past ten days, along with my staff has been to analyse everything, but the message must be clear: there will be attention gievn to everyone and I expect a reaction on the pitch". Not only courage but also trust: "I blieve there's a lot of potential to nurture. We'll be coming up against som strong teams, but this doesn't mean we don't have the quality to put them under pressure. We have a lot of experienced and young players, who have the chance to express technical and tactical concepts. I believe, though, that belief is needed above all else to bring out the bravery against sides who look on paper stronger than us."

THE STAFF Alongside Soncin as his assistant, as mentioned, will be Viviana Schiavi, who boasts a wealth of experience as a player (44 caps for Italy) and as a Federal Coach. Joining them is Alessandro Turone, assistant coach who has worked with the head Coach since 2021, after experiences as second in command with Pro Vercelli, Livorno, Avellino and Padova. The fitness coaches will be Cristian Savoia, in Club Italia since 2016 in the role of physiologist in the Performance and Research Area, and in the Women's First Team staff since April 2019, and Mattia Toffolutti, who comes from the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti's Youth Representative Teams, as well as taking time as a teacher in courses for head coaches for the Technical Sector on "Training theory and methodology". Giuseppe Mammoliti is the new goalkeeping coach, who has been with Soncin in recent years, following six years with Juventus Women and previously with Torino's Youth Sector. Guido Didona will be the match analyst, a role he covered at Trapani and Bari, and in the last six years at Hellas Verona, after previously being assistant coach for Siena and Perugia.