Tomorrow at 21 the debut against the hosts: coach Bollini can count on four finalists of the U20 tournament in Argentina
It is the penultimate appointment of the long blue summer, before the women’s World Cup. The U19 European Championship starting tomorrow (Monday 3 July) in Malta closes the agenda of the men’s national teams, with the hope that it will be able to heal (at least partially) the wounds caused by the disappointment of the Under 21 team. positive energies in Alberto Bollini’s group there are four fresh vice world champions with Italy U20. They already know how to impress and – after all these commitments – they want to go on vacation, but as late as possible. It’s a European Championship of particular significance also for the coach: Alberto Bollini, who was added to Mancini’s staff for the Nations League Finals, is clearly in the running to take Paolo Nicolato’s place at the helm of the U21 team. But right now, the head is only for his team.
the debut
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We’ll take the first step in the tournament in group A against the hosts, challenging Malta tomorrow at 9pm at the National Stadium in Ta Qali (where the senior national team won 2-0 in March, goals from Retegui and Pessina). The Azzurrini matches will all be broadcast on Rai Sport: Thursday 6 July at 6 pm Italy-Portugal and Sunday 9 July (again at 6 pm) Italy-Poland. The first two go directly to the semifinals, the same goes for the other group where there are Iceland, Greece, Norway and Spain. Bollini will have to do without for the debut of two suspended players, a legacy of the qualifications: the central defender Chiarodia – who moved a few days ago from Werder Bremen to Borussia Moenchengladbach – and the point guard Faticanti, one of the veterans of the Argentine World Cup together with his Roma partner Pisilli will be missing , Lipani from Genoa and Pio Esposito from Inter. The latter will be the offensive reference of the 4-3-3, a module in which they are destined to find space – among others – for right-back Missori who has just moved from Roma to Sassuolo (he will be captain, in Faticanti’s absence), the midfielder Cher Ndour (now from Paris Saint Germain) and striker Koleosho, who has four passports and has already scored in La Liga with Espanyol. Stories that we will be able to dust off in these days.
enthusiasm and pitfalls
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It should be emphasized that for Italy – semi-finalist a year ago in Slovakia, with Carmine Nunziata on the bench – landing among the top eight in Europe was not taken for granted. The defeat against Estonia in the Main round in September had complicated the plans, with the passage to the Elite round conquered only by the best third (once the results of the other groups had been acquired about two months later). In Germany however, at the end of March, Bollini’s boys turned the table by eliminating the German favourites, Belgium and Slovenia. And now nothing is precluded, especially if the group – heterogeneous in composition and seasonal experience behind it – were to reach a good shared level of form. But watch out for the pitfalls of the debut: “Malta is no longer to be considered a Cinderella – Bollini is keen to explain – because it has greatly increased the professionalism of the staff, there is an Italian team that has been coordinating the national youth teams for several years. Their recruitment is obviously different from that of the big European teams, but they have a huge advantage over us and the other teams: they train the national team like a club. They have players available on average three times a week and in doing so – concludes the blue coach – they have become a very organized team”. Ask veterans from the U20: starting strong can ignite confidence and enthusiasm.
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