Luxembourg, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland. These are the final three Euro qualifying games that await Paolo Nicolato’s side, who began their preparations at the Tirrenia Olympic Training Centre today. There’s a sense of calm as the team look to secure their place at the final tournament, which will be co-hosted by Romania and Georgia next summer, but work still needs to be done, with the trip to Sweden on the Head Coach’s mind in particular.

Leading Group F with 17 points, the Azzurrini have a three-point over the second-place Swedes, who have also played a game more. “There are players with a few minor problems,” said Nicolato in his press conference today. “We hope the situation gets better. We don’t have a huge amount of players but want to do all that we can; this is our aim. The more difficulties there are, the more I actually enjoy it. It’ll be a six-pointer in Sweden, where the league season is still ongoing. The team must know that if we don’t do well on a physical level, we’ll have big problems.”

As always, Nicolato has clear ideas and knows what to ask of his team: “I’m not expecting anything beyond what the guys are capable of doing. Those who are here deserve it, and I’m not looking for answers. This is a group that needs to have the desire to raise the bar and challenge itself.”

The Head Coach also raised the issue of the lack of playing time for youngsters in the main divisions: “It’s a fact that we don’t have a lot of young players. As for the reasons why they don’t play, a big discussion could be had.”

Nevertheless, Nicolato is fully focused on the task at hand, with training having already begun. Only Lorenzo Pirola, who achieved promotion to Serie A with Monza yesterday, was absent, but he’ll join up with the squad this evening.

The Azzurrini will first travel to Differdange to take on Luxembourg on 6 June, while they’ll then head to Helsingborg to face Sweden on 9 June. After this, the group will return to Italy ahead of their match against the Republic of Ireland in Ascoli on 14 June.