With the National Youth Teams unable to play in January as a result of the pandemic, Carmine Nunziata’s U19s and Berardo Corradi’s U17s have friendlies coming up this month. Both will face the same opponents – Turkey – with the Under-19 National Team scheduled to play on Wednesday 9 February at the Stadio Erasmo Iacovone in Taranto (11:30 CET). As for the Under-17 National Team, they have a double-header coming up: the first game will be played on Tuesday 22 February in Monteriggioni (Stadio Daniele Berni at 14:30 CET), while the second will take place at the Comunale Stefano Lotti in Poggibonsi (11:00 CET).

These will be excellent tests with the elite round of European qualifying at the end of March in mind. Nunziata’s side will come up against Belgium, Germany and Finland (the hosts) in Group 5, while Corradi’s team have been drawn alongside Poland, Kosovo and Ukraine in Group 6. Both the U19s and the U17s topped their respective groups with maximum points in the first qualification phase.