Italy's Class of '88 (U-19s) [R]

Italy is hosting next spring's UEFA U-17 Championship, so the U-17 team is not involved with qualifying. Therefore, they have to rely on friendlies to prepare. Next week, they are playing in the "Four Nations" (what an imaginative name) tournament in Spain, along with Portugal and Greece.

Italy plays Portugal on Oct 26 and then will face either Spain or Greece on Oct 28.

Here are the players called up for this friendly tournament:

Portieri: Frison (Treviso), Tornaghi (Inter);
Difensori: Pierro (Salernitana), Brivio (Atalanta), Conte (Lecce), Cremonesi (Cremonese), De Silvestri (Lazio), Pavan (Padova), Renzetti (Genoa);
Centrocampisti: Dambrosio (Salernitana), Greco (Lazio), Castiglia (Reggina), Del Sole (Parma), Mandorlini (Parma), Palermo (Roma), Russotto (Bellinzona);
Attaccanti: Piccolo (Salernitana), Foti (Venezia).

BTW, unlike other age groups, Italy has no great history of success at this level, or at the U-16 level, which was the age UEFA used up until 2000. They only won it one time, in the first U-16 UEFA championship in 1982 (good year!). Italy has appeared in the final 4 other times, most recently in 1998, when they lost to Ireland. They also lost in 1993, to Poland, and in 1986, to Spain. In 1987, they had their victory in the final vs the Soviet Union stripped. I don't know the circumstances, but in age-level competitions, it usually involves the eligibility of a player.

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

I was right, here is what's listed at the FIGC site about that game:

"A CAUSA DELLA POSIZIONE IRREGOLARE GIOCATORE SECCI
(FIORENTINA)ISCRITTO CON DATA NASCITA ERRATA CHE
LO FACEVA RIENTRARE NEI LIMITI D`ETA` GLI AZZURRI
PERDEVANO LA GARA 0-3 A TAVOLINO. TITOLO ALL`URSS"

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

Italy beat Portugal 2-0
http://www.figc.it/italiano/archivi..._2004/271004_under_17_4naz/primo_piano_02.htm

Goals by Russotto and Foti. The game was played on an artificial surface.

Greece won the other match on PKs, so tomorrow will be Italy vs Greece in the finals.

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

Italy lost to Greece in the final, 3-0. As usual, sparse detail in this article:

http://www.figc.it/english/archivio..._2004/291004_under_17_4naz/primo_piano_02.htm

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

Bellinzona is actually in the Swiss second division.

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

The U-17 players called into training for Wednesday's friendly vs the Czech Republic:

Portieri: Frison (Treviso), Santarelli (Lazio);
Difensori: Brivio (Atalanta), Cremonesi (Cremonese), De Silvestri (Lazio), Pavan (Padova), Pierro (Salernitana), Capanna (Piacenza);
Centrocampisti: Di Gennaro (Milan), Greco (Lazio), Bacher (Sud Tirol), Cosentino (Juventus), Renzetti (Genoa), Russotto (Bellinzona), Mancosu (Cagliari);
Attaccanti: Capogna (Lazio), Dalla Costa (Inter), Foti (Venezia).

 

Re: Italy's U-17s [R]

Result from Romans D'Isonzo:

Italy 1 Czech Republic 2

Russotto's 38th-minute goal put the Azzurrini ahead, but they gave up a quick equalizer and lost to a second-half strike by the Czechs.

Next friendly is Dec 22 in Turkey.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Somewhat interesting interview with U-17 coach Francesco Rocca:-

http://www.figc.it/english/archivio...embre_2004/011204_under_17/primo_piano_04.htm

Thought this was an interesting comment on the continuing question of whether Italian soccer places enough emphasis on developing creative players:-

"In the youth sector - continues Rocca - there are some very interesting players as far as quality is concerned, but if a player is good at dribbling but is late on the ball, no individual talent counts anymore."

I read this to say that tackling is more important than skill.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Here are the players called into training for next week's friendly vs Turkey:-

Portieri: Tornaghi (Inter), Santarelli (Lazio);
Difensori: Brivio (Atalanta), Cremonesi (Cremonese), De Silvestri (Lazio), Pierro (Salernitana), Conte (Lecce), Renzetti (Genoa);
Centrocampisti: Di Gennaro (Milan), Greco (Lazio), Dambrosio (Salernitana), Del Sole (Parma), Palermo (Roma), Russotto (Bellinzona), Mancosu (Cagliari);
Attaccanti: Piccolo (Salernitana), Dalla Costa (Inter), Foti (Venezia).

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Italy lost 3-1 in Turkey. The Turks scored 3 first-half goals while Di Gennaro got Italy's lone tally in the 57th minute.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Although no more international friendlies are currently scheduled, the U-17s will be getting together for 4-day training sessions very frequently between now and the European Championships in May. There was a session this week, which culminated in a friendly match today with the local Promozione (5th division - check that, 6th division!!) side, Esperia Bisenzio. The U-17s won the match, 3-2, after falling behind 2-0 at halftime. Italy's goals were scored by Mancosu, Di Carmine and Tonucci.

I haven't seen a complete list of players called into the camp.

U-17 training camp schedule:-

Feb 6-9
Feb 20-23
Mar 6-9
Mar 20-23
April 3-6

The European championships take place in Tuscany May 3-14.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

The draw for the Under-17 UEFA Championships will be held this Friday in Pisa. The teams that have qualified are Belarus, Croatia, England, Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Turkey. The tournament takes place May 3-14 at various locations in Tuscany.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

The draw has been postponed until Saturday because the Pope's funeral is taking place on Friday.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

The UEFA U-17 European championship draw took place today, and here are the groups:-

Group A
Italy
Turkey
Belarus
England

Group B
Israel
Swizerland
Croatia
Netherlands

Besides determining the European champion, this tournament will determine the three European teams to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru this fall.

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Young prodigy? Nobody that I'm aware of, though that doesn't mean there isn't one. There are of course quite a few decent players at the U-21 and U-19 level. It'll be interesting to see how this U-17 team does, as the host of these European championships. Seems like they got a tough group although it's always hard to tell at this young age. The likes of Spain, Portugal, France, and Germany didn't even get to the finals!

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Here is the 23-man Italy squad for the European championships. Not sure if it'll have to be thinned down any further or if this is it:

Portieri: Frison (Treviso), Alfonso (Chievo Verona), Tornaghi (Inter);
Difensori: Cremonesi (Cremonese), De Silvestri (Lazio), Franceschini (Lecce), Angelucci (Ternana), Tagliani (Brescia), Renzetti (Genoa), Brivio (Atalanta), Tonucci (Cesena);
Centrocampisti: Greco (Lazio), Bacher (Sud Tirol), Castiglia (Reggina), Cia (Sud Tirol), Di Gennaro (Milan), Mancosu (Cagliari), Palermo (Roma);
Attaccanti: Foti (Venezia), Dalla Costa (Inter), Di Carmine (Fiorentina), Maritato (Juventus), Russotto (Cisco Lodigiani).

 

Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s) [R]

Maradona Jr was born in 1986, so he'd be eligible for the U-19s at this point although he hasn't been called to any national team camps that I'm aware of. Remember, Italy's age-level teams are notoriously fond of hard-tackling "team" players, so if he's anything like his dad (stylistically, I mean; obviously he can't be the same talent), he wouldn't stand a chance.