Despite a comfortable win against England in the final group game of the 2015 European Under-21 Championship, Luigi Di Biagio’s Azzurrini headed home under a cloud of disappointment, knowing they failed to do themselves justice.
Di Biagio will come under some intense scrutiny after the tournament, as his team were talented enough to go further. Their slow start to the tournament is a familiar Italian malaise, and it meant that by the time the last group game came around, the ‘Biscotto’ allegations were there to be cast.
The Germans seldom leave matters in other teams hands, and it is a lesson Italian sides would do well to learn.
Learning, of course, is the main purpose of these tournaments. Silverware is nice, however, and there is no doubt Francesco Bardi would have enjoyed being the sixth Italian to lift the European Championship. Yet it is more important in the long term that Italy now have a squad of young players who have gained the experience of playing in an international tournament.
They have experienced the unique circumstances that it brings – the team hotels and living in close proximity with other players, the different pressures that tournament football, with its almost instant jeopardy, provides. Perhaps most telling of all, they will not only have the disappointment of defeat, but the sting of knowing that they failed to represent their true potential throughout the tournament – or at least until it was too late.
Going back to the German Under 21 sides of recent seasons, there is a very positive policy of using the young side as exactly that. The team that was victorious in Malmo in 2009 contained a glut of names that are now World Cup winners; Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Howedes, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil among them.
As with many things in football, the German system is showing the way at the current time.
A team as packed with brightness and talent as Italy should never have been in a position that their final result was rendered moot. Too many of the squad are already beginning to flourish, and too many look to have a bright international future ahead of them.
Not all of the representatives will make the step up to full international level but the Under 21 side should be a stepping stone to the full squad and there are already signs of this crop of youngsters making the leap.
Antonio Conte will have seen, in Di Biagio’s side, a number of players to keep a closer eye on in the season to come. While none, over the course of three fairly low key group games, put themselves too firmly in the shop window, there were flashes of excellence here and there from a number of sources.
Domenico Berardi, the shining light of Italy’s youth, demonstrated the ferociousness of his precocious talent in the Czech Republic. With Juventus as an eventual destination, his future is almost certain to blaze brightly. There are still others who have come into their own in the previous Serie A season who may only be a run of bad form or an injury from a full cap.
Alessio Romagnoli is a prodigious defensive talent, as is Daniele Rugani alongside him. Both may well be fighting for a first team spot next season, and if they make it, will almost certainly come up against Stefano Sturaro, Davide Zappacosta and Marco Benassi at some point. As Serie A regulars, all will be on Antonio Conte’s radar already.
Even for those only just beginning to get to that level, there is no reason for despair. Andrea Belotti featured in all of Palermo’s 38 matches last season (albeit coming off the bench 29 times). With Paulo Dybala moving to Juventus, he has an opportunity to make a name for himself next campaign.
The overall sentiment at the end of the European Championship campaign must be one of disappointment. Not only did the Azzurrini depart in the group stages, they did so without really showing what they could do. A solitary impressive performance against a lacklustre England is all Di Biagio’s generation of 2015 have to show for themselves.
They leave the Czech Republic with their heads hung low, their tails between their legs and their futures stretching collectively in front of them. Now all they have to do is ensure they never experience a similar disappointment again in their careers. There is enough talent in the squad to think they might do just that.
