Time for Italy to live up to expectations at the Under-21 European Championship

Published on: 16 June 2017

Ahead of the Under-21 European Championship in Poland, Italy must fancy their chances with one of the strongest squads on paper

It features a number of players who have been regulars in Serie A and many have appeared for the senior side. The format of the tournament and a tough group against Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic means that the Azzurrini will have to hit the ground running if they are to live up to their potential in a competition with no margin for error.

The Azzurrini are the most successful side at this level of European football with five titles and memories of glorious days when they won three on the trot under Cesare Maldini. The competition has expanded for this edition and it continues to become more prestigious with twelve teams now in the finals rather than the eight teams that appeared in earlier finals. Despite having more participants, it still remains an unforgiving event with the knockouts beginning at the semi-final stage. Only the three group winners and the best runner-up will avoid the indignity of elimination at the group stage which was the unhappy outcome for Italy at the previous edition in the Czech Republic.

Italy booked their ticket to Poland as the winners of Group 2 in qualification, one point ahead of Serbia. Torino’s talismanic midfielder Marco Benassi led the scoring with three goals while Alberto Cerri and Federico Di Francesco followed in the charts with two. Gaetano Monachello who didn’t make the final squad and who spent the season on loan at Ternana from Atalanta also netted two as the Azzurrini were sent to the finals thanks in part to the efforts of players not named in the final squad. That shows the sheer depth of quality available to Luigi Di Biagio and it also shows the pressure on this group of young stars to perform after less heralded players helped secure qualification before missing out on a place in the finals.

Di Biagio and Gian Piero Ventura have been cooperating as the senior side attempts to give youth a chance and the FIGC have also given their blessing for the Under-21s to take as strong a side as they could muster.

For Italy, Federico Bernardeschi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Roberto Gagliardini, Andrea Petagna, Daniele Rugani and Lorenzo Pellegrini all have full senior caps. In the rest of Group C, Denmark have one full international, Germany four and the Czech Republic also have four. Bernardeschi is already an important figure for the senior side with nine caps so he’s well on his way to living up to the tournament slogan of “stars of today, superstars of tomorrow.” In comparison, the Czechs Serie A duo of Patrik Schick and Jaukub Jankto only have four full international appearances to their name. This generation of Azzurrini is already well established and their quality cannot be doubted, it’s now up to them to find the chemistry which allows them to perform as they can.

As Serie A’s best developer of talent, Italy also have the added benefit of being able to call on a solid contingent of Atalanta players. Andrea Conti, Petagna, Alberto Grassi, Mattia Caldara are all at the high-flying Bergamo club while Gagliardini was there until January. They’ve shown that they were good enough to propel Atalanta into the Europa League and their success should provide inspiration to the rest of their Under-21 teammates.

One potential hazard for the Azzurrini though is the storm of controversy which has recently engulfed Gianluigi Donnarumma. The 18-year-old goalkeeper was, and likely is, still set to be one of the stars of the competition. He’s the most well-known goalkeeper and destined for greatness but the anger which has emerged from his decision not to renew at AC Milan risks distracting a key player and harming the atmosphere in the camp.

The full international status of some of these players could also be an issue as many of them were with Ventura’s squad for the matches against Uruguay and Liechtenstein rather than with Di Biagio for the training camp. They will have had less time to get up to speed and there’s a risk fitness levels may not be uniform across the team.

Italy’s strength has traditionally come from the collective and togetherness rather than individual quality as was demonstrated a week prior when the unfancied Under-20 side overachieving as they made the semi-final of the World Cup for that age group.

On paper, Italy have arguably the best team at the tournament but this group will have to click from the start and beat Denmark on Sunday and Italian sides do not usually deal well with high expectations. Italy failed to make it out of the group in 2015 so Di Biagio will be especially wary of complacency slipping in to corrupt this golden generation.

This Italy Under-21 side has only won two of its last six so it cannot expect to stroll things in Poland. Whatever the fortunes of the Azzurrini, it’s ultimately a prestigious development tournament and it’s clear that youth is getting more of a chance in Italy. That bodes well for the future. The 2015 tournament saw players such as Andrea Belotti emerge but other squad members such as Cristian Battochio or Lorenzo Crisetig have not progressed as expected. This  Italian Under-21 team has strength in every position and there’s a clear pathway into the senior side. If they play to their potential, there’s no reason they why they can’t win the trophy.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more