Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Here's the pre-match photo for the Italy-Belarus match (a 1-0 defeat): Front Row (L to R): Russotto, Palermo, Greco, Di Gennaro, De Silvestri Back Row (L to R): Brivio, Tagliani, Cremonesi, Castiglia, Foti, Alfonso Brivio Davide Ernestino 17.03.1988 Atalanta Bergamasca - Right back who played every minute of Italy's European championship tournament campaign. Brivio was a member of Atalanta's Allievi national championship team last season, which is well-represented on the national squad.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Cremonesi Michele 15.04.1988 U.S. Cremonese - #4 in the photos above. Played every minute in central defense for Italy at the European championships. On Serie B club Cremonese's first team roster after playing on their Allievi squad last year. Has scored 2 goals for Italy, both while playing for the U-16 team.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] De Silvestri Lorenzo 23.05.1988 S.S. Lazio - highly-touted left back and team captain, who made UEFA's "10 to watch" list following the tournament. Scored Italy's first goal in crucial qualification match vs Croatia. Played every minute of the tournament. Has yet to make his Serie A debut for Lazio but came on as a sub in their first Intertoto match vs Tampere United. A great all-around athlete, as recently as 1999, De Silvestri was still participating in national cross-country ski races (winning some) before finally turning his full attention to calcio. Debuted for Italy at the U-16 level on June 15, 2003 in a 5-0 win over the USA.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Couldn't find photos for either of these guys: Franceschini Fabio 08.05.1988 U.S. Lecce - received his first Italy callup earlier this year but missed out on the European championship squad at the last cut. Not so unlucky for the World Champinships. One of the youngest members of Lecce's strong Primavera squad last season which was upset in that championship's Round of 16. Mauri Stefano Luciano 11.02.1988 Atalanta Bergamasca - another defender added to the squad since May. Played in the midfield on last season's Allievi squad at Atalanta and scored the game-winning goal against Juventus in the championship game at that level.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Brivio is now partly-owned by Fiorentina according to Violanews.com. http://violanews.com/index.php?action=read&id=15589
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Onto the midfield: Cia Michael 03.08.1988 F.C. Südtirol - right-sided midfielder and only member of the squad based with a Serie C2 team. Scored a goal in only his second first-team appearance for the club last season. Mostly played on Sudtirol's Allievi squad, scoring 6 goals. Played Italy's final 3 games at the European championships after the starting lineup was adjusted following the loss to Belarus. Debuted for Italy at U-15 level in 2003. Has two international goals, both from his time with the U-16 team.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] (I've never seen him play, but if his picture is anything to go by, he doesn't look like a finesse player! ). D'attoma Tommaso 15.04.1988 A.C. Lumezzane - a new addition to the squad since last spring, D'attoma is the only other player besides Cia currently with a Serie C club. Most experienced player on the squad in terms of first-team experience with his club, with 13 appearances in Serie C1 with Lumezzane last season. Scored in a pre-season friendly this summer vs Serie A club Chievo. Rumored to be in the sights of Milan.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Greco Daniele 27.04.1988 S.S. Lazio - central midfielder who has received praise from many quarters for his all-action playing style - a good tackler and tireless runner, but who also has good vision and ability to distribute the ball cleanly and effectively. Captain of Lazio's Allievi team last season. Played every minute of Italy's European championship campaign. Debuted for Italy with the U-15 team in 2003.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Mancosu Marco 22.08.1988 Cagliari Calcio - left-sided midfielder came on for the second half of the second group game in the European championships and played the rest of the tournament. His corner kick set up De Silvestri's opening goal against Croatia. On Cagliari's Allievi team but named to the Primavera squad which surprisingly qualified for the final eight. Debuted for Italy at the U-16 level in 2004.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Mandorlini Matteo 22.10.1988 F.C. Parma - not on the final squad last May, but has been a regular with the national team since debuting with the U-16s in April 2004 in a 3-2 win over England. Youngest player on Parma's Primavera team which qualified for the final phase of the champioship, losing to eventual champions Roma in the Round of 16.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Palermo Simone 17.08.1988 A.S. Roma - Offensive-minded central midfielder who played alongside Greco in the center of Italy's midfield in every minute of the European tournament. Suffered a broken collarbone playing with Roma's Allievi team last season but recovered in time for the European championship. Had some appearances for Roma's championship Primavera team. Debuted for Italy at the U-15 level at the 2003 Eur Altus tournament.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Scozzarella Matteo 05.06.1988 Atalanta Bergamasca - new addition to the squad since May. Has never played for Italy at any level. Along with national teammates Brivio, Mauri, and Tiboni, led Atalanta to the Allievi national championship last year. Named the best player of the tournament at the Torneo Giovanile Citta' di Arco this past February.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Onto the forwards. I have to say, besides Russotto, the attack in the European championships was uninspiring to say the least. Italy scored just 4 goals in its 5 matches - 2 by Russotto (one of those a PK), one by midfielder Di Gennaro (not even on this squad) from outside the box, and one by defender Di Silvestre heading a corner in. Other than being on this team - and being tall - I couldn't find a heck of a lot of info on these guy's credentials. Dalla Costa Marco 25.03.1988 F.C. Internazionale - tall, classic targetman who impressed enough with Inter's Allievi squad last season to earn his first call-up ahead of December's friendly vs the Czech Republic. Played in 4 of Italy's games at the Euros and was entrusted with a start in the important 3rd-place match with Croatia. Foti Salvatore 08.08.1988 U.C. Sampdoria - another tall striker who started every game at the Euros. Has a long Italy resume, debuting with a goal vs Morrocco for the U-15s in 2003. Started his career with Venezia but moved to Sampdoria on a free transfer this summer after that club went bankrupt. Did well enough in pre-season training to earn a spot on Sampdoria's first-team roster. Tiboni Christian 06.04.1988 Atalanta Bergamasca - Not on the squad at the Euros, but his 16 goals in 19 appearances for Atalanta's championship-winning Allievi team earned a callup for Peru. Debuted for Italy's U-16 in 2003 and scored 4 goals in 6 appearances at that age level.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Last but not least, here is the write-up I made on Andrea Russotto on the Young Italian Talent thread: The most skillful player on Italy's U-17 team which finished 3rd in the European Championship last spring. Scored two of Italy's 4 goals in that tournament. Partly because he's from Rome, but also because of his position ("fantasista") and playing style, he's been labelled by some as a "little Totti". Mysteriously sold by Lazio to Swiss outfit Bellinzona after the 2003/4 season. Played sparingly (9 appearances/1 goal) for the first team in Switzerland before being loaned to Serie C2 club Cisco Lodigiani last year. Now on loan with Treviso and should get his Serie A debut sometime this season. Said to be on the radar screen of many big clubs, including Chelsea. Debuted for Italy at the U-15 level in 2003 and was on the U-17 team within 3 months.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] I'm sure some of these guys will graduate straight to the U-19 squad, but after the tournament in Peru, this age-level will become the U-18 squad. News today from the Gazzetta dello Sport is that the new U-18 national team coach (not yet official) will be Giancarlo Antognoni, who was on Italy's World Cup-winning 1982 squad. http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazionale/Primo_Piano/2005/09_Settembre/01/antogno.shtml
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] As the World Championships get closer, FIFA has been publishing some good articles about the different teams. Here are a couple about Italy: http://fifa.com/en/comp/U17/tournament/0,4129,U17-2005-37-ITA,00.html http://fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,108640,00.html?articleid=108640
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s going to Peru) [R] Squad from FIFA 1 GK ALFONSO Enrico ALFONSO 04.05.1988 Chievo Verona ITA 2 DF BRIVIO Davide BRIVIO 17.03.1988 Atalanta Bergamo ITA 3 DF DE SILVESTRI Lorenzo DE SILVESTRI 23.05.1988 Lazio Rome ITA 4 DF ANGELUCCI Manuel ANGELUCCI 18.01.1988 ITA 5 DF CREMONESI Michele CREMONESI 15.04.1988 Cremonese ITA 6 MF GRECO Daniele GRECO 27.04.1988 Lazio Rome ITA 7 MF D ATTOMA Tommaso D ATTOMA 15.04.1988 Lumezzane ITA 8 MF PALERMO Simone PALERMO 17.08.1988 AS Rome ITA 9 FW TIBONI Christian TIBONI 06.04.1988 Atalanta Bergamo ITA 10 FW RUSSOTTO Andrea RUSSOTTO 25.08.1988 Treviso ITA 11 FW FOTI Salvatore FOTI 08.08.1988 Sampdoria Genoa ITA 12 GK TORNAGHI Paolo TORNAGHI 21.06.1988 Internazionale ITA 13 DF FRANCESCHINI Fabio FRANCESCHINI 08.05.1988 Lecce ITA 14 MF MAURI Stefano MAURI 11.02.1988 Atalanta Bergamo ITA 15 MF MANDORLINI Matteo MANDORLINI 22.10.1988 Parma ITA 16 MF SCOZZARELLA Matteo SCOZZARELLA 05.06.1988 Atalanta Bergamo ITA 17 MF CIA Michael CIA 03.08.1988 Suedtirol/Alto Adige ITA 18 MF MANCOSU Marco MANCOSU 22.08.1988 Cagliari ITA 19 FW DALLA COSTA Marco DALLA COSTA 25.03.1988 Internazionale ITA 20 GK SANTARELLI Simone SANTARELLI 07.09.1988 Lazio Rome ITA
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] The boys are in Peru, and are training in Chiclayo, where they play their first two matches, against the Ivory Coast on Saturday and the USA next Tuesday. The last group match will played in Trujillo on Sept 23 vs North Korea. Looks like only the Italy-USA group game will be available on US TV - live on FSC at 4:30 pm Eastern. Galavision will show the game on tape delay at 9:15 pm Eastern. Yesterday, the team played a local team in a friendly (attended by 5000 fans) and won 5-0 with Andrea Russotto scoring a hat trick. IMO, there can be no excuses for this team not to do well here. Unlike the U-20 team last summer, all the best players at this age level appear to be with the team in Peru. Of course, that U-20 team ended up doing pretty well at the WYC, partly because they didn't have the weight of any expectations. And U-17 is a much-more-unpredictable age level. Really, anything could happen. I think the US and Italy should advance out of this group, but who knows.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] The Italian federation has a special website up for this tournament: http://www.figc.it/italiano/mondiali_u17_2005/html/home.htm English version (which is often not updated as quickly): http://www.figc.it/english/mondiali_u17_2005/html/home.htm Here is FIFA's official site: http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,U172005,00.html?comp=U17&year=2005 The tournament gets underway Friday with games in Group A and B. Italy's first match, against Cote d'Ivoire, takes place Saturday at 11 am Eastern US time. Not sure what sort of live coverage might be available - at BEST, there might be a textcast somewhere.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] I did not see this mentioned before... If it was, sorry... But they are experimenting with new technology in Peru. You can read about it here... http://www.fiorentina.it/notizia.asp?IDNotizia=34238
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] Today's Italy vs Ivory Coast game will be shown on Italian channel SportItalia on tape delay at 2:45 pm Eastern. This channel is available on streaming program SOPCast (available from www.sopcast.org ). I just noticed they now have RAI Sport Sat on SOPCast as well. For those in Europe, live coverage will be on Eurosport.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] Hmmm.... I'm not seeing the game listed at Sportitalia's website, so I wonder if it's really going to be on sister channel SI Live 24 instead (which is not available online). http://www.sportitalia.com/home/pages/spi/V4/L4/S20000/sport_Lng4_Spo20000_Sto598785_Sitspi.shtml
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] Well in the US we'll probably only get the Italy-US game.
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] That is true, as I mentioned before. The Italy-US game is on FSC Tuesday at 4:30 pm EDT (live). I'm trying to find a way of following today's game. Looks like the best bet might be FIFA's Livescore Card, available here: http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/U17/U17ScoreCard/0,4552,U17-2005-100,00.html
Re: Italy's Class of '88 (U-17s in Peru) [R] Here is the starting lineup for Italy vs Ivory Coast: 1 - Alfonso 2 - Brivio 3 - De Silvestri (C) 5 - Cremonesi 6 - Greco 7 - D'Attoma 8 - Palermo 15 - Mandorlini 18 - Mancosu 9 - Tiboni 11 - Foti Russotto starts on the bench. Based on the official squad list, there are only 3 defenders in the starting lineup, so I'm not sure whether they are playing a 3-5-2 (unusual at Italian youth levels) or if one of the midfielders is really playing in the back.