European U21 Championship – Italy Team Preview

Date: 16th June 2015 at 12:00pm
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With the Euro Under-21 Championships set to begin in the coming days, Italy must live up to expectation to challenge for the trophy come the end of June.

Being the most successful team in the tournament, Italy are accustomed to pressure, but will still be keen to avenge the losses of two years ago, where they trudged off the pitch in Israel as only runners-up.

Route to the Finals

The route to the Championships was not completely straight-forward for Italy.

Their qualification chances took a blow early on as they fell to defeat in their opener as Belgium left the peninsula with all three points after a 3-1 win.

Things then fortunately began to look up for the Azzurrini as they went on to lose just once more as they were defeated away to Serbia.

This defeat was sandwiched between two three game winning streaks, with the second of these runs concluding with an impressive 7-1 demolition of Cyprus at home to secure top spot in the group.

The Italians enjoyed the benefit of being a seeded team for the play-off draw, which saw them matched against Slovakia.

The first of the two legs saw Palermo’s Andrea Belotti score in a 1-1 draw before the Italians ran out as comfortable winners in the return leg as they dispatched the Slovaks with a 3-1 victory in Emilia-Romagna.

Past Record

Italy have won the U21 Championship five times in their history, more than any other nation.

The Azzurrini came close to making it a sixth in the 2013 tournament in Israel, but fell at the final hurdle and were beaten finalists when Spain ran out as 4-2 winners, a result which came in the midst of La Roja’s period of football dominance at almost all levels.

The Italians won all of their five titles between 1992 and 2004, with the tournament being held every two years.

The competition moved from even to odd numbered years as it was hosted in consecutive summers in 2006 and 2007.

With Italy currently going through somewhat of a doubt, having not reclaimed their title since the change took place, it could be argued that the Azzurrini are overdue success at under 21 level.

Things have not always been good of late, with Italy not qualifying for the tournament in 2011 and the quality of football being widely criticised under Devis Mangia as they were losing finalists in 2013.

Key Player

Before going on, it is worth sending some acclamation in the direction of defensive pairing Daniele Rugani and Alessio Romagnoli, both of whom had sublime seasons in Serie A. Some other notable players are the aforementioned Andrea Belotti and Atalanta’s Daniele Baselli.

As good as they have been, it would feel churlish if Domenico Berardi wasn’t singled out as being the one-to-watch in a blue shirt.

The Sassuolo striker scored 15 times and assisted a further 10 goals in his 32 Serie A appearances this season, with the most notable of these coming against AC Milan – a club he has plagued in the two most recent seasons.

The 20-year-old has scored seven times in his last two home appearances against the Rossoneri and is regularly linked with a return to parent club Juventus.

The Coach

Luigi Di Biagio is well accustomed to the youth scene of Italian football. The former Inter and Roma midfielder coached the U20 side between 2011-2013 and was promoted to the U21 position following the sacking of Devis Mangia after the rather paradoxically disappointing second placed finish in the 2013 tournament.

Di Biagio tends to adopt an attacking philosophy with his goal-hungry side and encourages his attacking players like the previously identified Berardi and Belotti to express themselves, making them a real joy to watch and excitement is always likely when observing the Azzurrini under his guidance.

 

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