The Under 17's after winning 6-5 in a penalty shootout against England in the quarter-finals, will take the field in a few hours (19:30 CEST, live on Rai Play and UEFA TV) at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca. against Denmark in the semi-finals of the U17's European Championship.

Coach Massimiliano Favo said of the upcoming tie: "This is the toughest team we could face right now because they have important qualities and a good collective. Compared to us they have had an extra day of recovery. Regardless of this, we have to play our game without making the mistake of underestimating them in any way. At the beginning of the season, there were 54 teams, and now we are down to four. This means that those who have made it this far have important qualities and, above all, that there are no easy matches".

The previous encounters between the Azzurrini and the Danes at Under-17 level total three matches. The first, dated 4 June 1995, was a 1-0 victory in Monthey (Switzerland) by the team then coached by Antonio Rocca (Nicola Ventola scored the decisive goal on 59') during a tournament organized by the Swiss federation. The second, on 12 October 2011, was a 4-1 defeat in Brøndby for the team led by Daniele Zoratto at the time, on the first day of Group 5 in the European Championship qualifying round (Bryan Cristante was a notable name on the bench). The most recent match, on 7 September of last year, was a 3-1 victory in Bonn (with goals by Liberali, Camarda, and Plicco, the latter currently not in the squad) in the first match of the 'Four Nations Tournament' won at the beginning of the season in Germany.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship

Group Phase

Group A: Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia and Czechia.
Group B: Denmark, Austria, Croatia and Wales.
Group C: ITALY, Sweden, Slovakia and Poland.
Group D: France, Portugal, Spain and England.

Group C schedule

Matchday 1 (Tuesday 21 May)
Slovakia 0-0 Sweden
ITALY 2-0 Poland

Matchday 2 (Friday 24 May)
ITALY 2-0 Slovakia
Sweden 2-2 Poland

Matchday 3 (Monday 27 May)
Sweden 1-2 ITALY
Poland 4-0 Slovakia

Table: ITALY 9 points, Poland 4, Sweden 2, Slovakia 1.

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals

Wednesday 29 May

Q1) Czechia 1-1 Denmark 1-1 (3-5 on penalties)
Q2) Austria 2-3 Serbia

Thursday 30 May

Q3) Italy 1-1 England (5-4 on penalties)
Q4) Portugal 2-1 Poland

Semi-finals (Sunday 2 June)

S1) 18:00 local time (17:00 CEST): Denmark vs. Q3 winner, AEK Arena in Larnaca
S2) 20:30 local time (19:30 CEST): Serbia vs. Q4 winner, Antōnīs Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca

Final (Wednesday 5 June)

20:30 local time (19:30 CEST): S1 winner vs. S2 winner, Limassol Stadium in Limassol