Thursday 15 July 2010

[U19] Azzurrini squad for Euro 2010

Italy Under-19 coach Massimo Piscedda has confirmed his 18-man squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship Finals, which begin in north-western France on Sunday.

A 20-man preliminary squad have been training at the Borghesiana sports centre in Rome for the last week, with Piscedda announcing his official squad this evening ahead of their departure for Caen tomorrow.

Empoli goalkeeper Vincenzo Addario and new Inter signing Marco Faraoni are the players to miss out, with the latter ruled out due to catching an infection in recent days.


Italy, winners in 2003 and runners-up two years ago, are in Group B with Spain, Croatia and Portugal. The Azzurrini will make their debut against the Portuguese on Sunday in Monderville (at 1600 CET).

They will stay in Monderville to face the Croats on Wednesday 21 July (at 1600) and close the group against the Spaniards three days later in Flers (at 1600).

The top two nations from each group will progress to the Semi-Final on Tuesday 27 July and then the winners of those games will contest the Final in Caen on Friday 30 July.

Group A is made up of the hosts France, Austria, England and the Netherlands.

"What is important is to make sure we come to the tournament in the best possible condition, physically and mentally," said Piscedda. "The other three teams are all strong at youth level and they've all got very good coaches.

"We know we will have three difficult and testing matches, but hopefully we can do well."

The eight finalists will also be battling for a place in next year's FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, with the top three teams in each group - a total of six teams - qualifying for that competition as European representatives.

Italy qualified for the Finals in France after finishing on top of their group in two separate rounds, starting last November with Qualifying Round victories over Albania, San Marino and the Republic of Ireland and then finally in the Elite Round in May, when Piscedda's side saw off competition from the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Russia to seal a place in the final eight of the continental event this summer.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Simone Colombi (Pergocrema), Mattia Perin (Genoa).
Defenders: Andrea Adamo (Palermo), Michelangelo Albertazzi (Milan), Riccardo Brosco (Triestina), Luca Caldirola (Inter), Alessandro Crescenzi (Grosseto), Alessandro Malomo (Roma).
Midfielders: Andrea Bertolacci (Lecce), Marco D'Alessandro (Grosseto), Cristian Galano (Bari), Jacopo Sala (Chelsea), Roberto Soriano (Sampdoria), Max Taddei (Gubbio), Luca Tremolada (Inter).
Forwards: Fabio Borini (Chelsea) - captain, Mattia Destro (Inter), Cardoso Dumitru (Empoli).

[UEFA U19 Euro Championship Draw & Schedule]

Source: FIGC

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