Women’s European Championships, Italy-France tomorrow – La Gazzetta dello Sport

On 20 January 2018, when the women’s national team took the field at the Vélodrome in Marseille for a friendly match, Cristiana Girelli was not yet a Juventus player. She was at Brescia, she would become Juventus at the end of that season, a year later than the others: she scored against France, finished 1-1, and for an Italy that was still developing it was a great result. Sunday evening, Cristiana and the national team will try again, in a match that will already be worth a lot: in Rotherham, the debut at the European Championship is also the most difficult match, given that France is the third team in the world by ranking and that two blocks that compose it are made up of the European champions of Lyon and the PSG, who reached the semifinal lost against OL. Even Italy, however, has a monolithic block, of nine Juventus players, which Lyon beat him even if only in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

France is in Girelli’s destiny: in Marseille he scored, in France at the 2019 World Cup he faced great international football, with three goals, all to Jamaica. “Compared to 2019, many things have changed-he-says. Instead, our desire to fight and amaze has remained unchanged, I feel that I still have a great desire to improve and rejoice wearing this special jersey. One thing is certain: we want to make our compatriots proud “.

Round digit

–

Sunday (9pm Italian time, live Rai1 and Sky) will be the 50th presence under the Bertolini management for Girelli, who scored 35 goals in this period of time and matches. “France are very strong, they have talented players in every role and it is therefore useless to focus on their individualities – still Cristiana -. We will have to be humble and play smart. On paper they are the favorites of the group, but we have earned the respect of all our opponents thanks to the results obtained in recent years, so we know we can play even with them. We are where we want to be, but we are not satisfied, it is up to us to make this trip unforgettable ”.

The debutante

–

If Girelli is a veteran, Lucia Di Guglielmo will be at her first international competition. In 2019 she was playing for Empoli, she could hardly have expected to live an adventure like this. All deserved, given the excellent season with the Roma shirt: “Being here is a dream come true, I’m happy to have been able to make it come true and I hope to continue dreaming for a long time – the full-back’s words -. I’m trying to get carried away by the atmosphere that reigns in the team and to find the right balance between emotion and rationality. You never get used to wearing these colors, it’s always like the first time, I’m sure that if I go out on the pitch I will relive all the sensations I have brought with me since I started playing football “. Tomorrow the transfer to Rotherham, Sunday the debut: blue fever rises.