The Official Azzurrini Thread - Italys future stars!

[Lombardiamia]

[JuveGER]

[Bagg10]

[Alfio]

[RomaShield27]

Italy Handed Kind Draw In Euro 2011 U-21 Qualifiers
04/02/2009 18:43 – www.Goal.com

The Italy Under-21 side have been given a relatively easy group of opponents to face in their quest to qualify for Euro 2011 in Denmark, according to the Gazzetta Dello Sport.

The Azzurrini will face Wales, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Luxembourg in Group 3. Thus, they will be confident of progressing at the top as none of the sides are viewed as being at the same level as the team coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi.

The qualifiers will begin at the end of March and conclude on September 7, 2010. The ten group winners and the four best runners-up will face-off to determine which seven teams make it to the final tournament along with hosts Denmark.

Italy's U-21 side are looking to make up for their disappointment at the 2008 Olympics, where they lost to Belgium 3-2 in the knockout stage, and are working to become recognised as one of the best young squads in football once again.

[p_maldini_3]

[Messinterista]

U21: Swedes hold Azzurrini

Robert Acquafresca’s penalty was not enough to defeat Sweden as the pressure grows on Under-21 boss Pierluigi Casiraghi.

Mario Balotelli was left on the bench at the Stadio Nereo Rocco in Treviso after turning up three and a half hours late for Monday’s training session, infuriating Casiraghi.

Instead he chose a 4-3-3 system with Ignazio Abate and Sebastian Giovinco flanking Cagliari hitman Robert Acquafresca.

Juventus starlet Giovinco’s free kick skimmed the frame of the goal after 16 minutes, then Acquafresca couldn’t direct Daniele Dessena’s cross on target.

Acquafresca wasted another good opportunity set up by new Roma signing Marco Motta, blasting over from close range.

Moments later Olsson brought down Torino man Abate for a penalty and this time Acquafresca did not miss.

Giovinco was a little too greedy with the ball to waste a counter-attack and it took until the 35th minute for Sweden to test Italy’s defence with a Toivonen free kick that hit the wall.

Bocchetti was picked in the starting XI ahead of Napoli’s Fabiano Santacroce and showed why with a well-timed tackle to cut short Toivonen’s dangerous attack in the box.

Balotelli, Santacroce and debutant Andrea Poli came on for the second half. Motta tested the new Swedish goalkeeper, but the visitors equalised on 64 minutes.

Wernbloom converted the spot-kick for substitute Santacroce’s challenge on Toivonen, but the damage was really done when Marco Andreolli completely mistimed his intervention in the build-up.

The goal boosted Sweden’s confidence and they started to push forward, as Bajrami’s ball flashed across the face of goal and Toivonen drilled wide before Andrea Consigli had to parry a Molins right-foot strike.

Giovinco found a way through with a solo run only to fire off target, while Balotelli and Lino Marzoratti nodded over.

Goalkeeper Hansson smothered a fine opportunity for Poli and Balotelli again turned over the bar, as Italy failed to get the victory.

Italy 1-1 Sweden
Scorers: Acquafresca pen 27 (I), Wernbloom pen 64 (S)

Italy U21: Consigli; Motta (Marzoratti 81), Andreolli, Bocchetti (Santacroce 46), Criscito (De Silvestri 67); Dessena (Bottone 67), Morosini, Candreva (Poli 46); Abate, Acquafresca (Balotelli 46), Giovinco (Cerci 81)
Sweden U21: Nordfeldt (Hansson 46); Lustig, Bjarsmyr, Bengtsson (Karlsson 63), Olsson (Johansson 53); Ozkan (Molins 63), Ekdal (Langden 81), Svensson, Bajrami (Lund 81); Toivonen (Oremo 81), Wernbloom
Ref: Weiner (Ger)

Source: http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_ ... eb11r.html

[RomaShield27]

U-21: New faces to play Austria
Friday 20 March, 2009 – http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_ ... ar20m.html

Italy Under-21 boss Pierluigi Casiraghi has picked his squad to face Austria on March 25. The Azzurrini are preparing for the summer's European Championship in Sweden. Casiraghi has been under pressure after some unconvincing performances in qualification and friendlies. He will hope to deliver a commanding win at the Four Nations tournament in Vienna but he has picked a younger squad of prospects for the future. Juventus stopper Lorenzo Ariaudo has been included in the list along with a number of new names, including Roma's Alessandro Malomo and Juventus' Ciro Immobile, who impressed at the Viareggio Tournament.

Italy Under-21 squad:
Goalkeepers: Fiorillo (Sampdoria), Seculin (Fiorentina)
Defenders: Ariaudo (Juventus), Bellusci (Ascoli), Crescenzi (Roma), Darmian (Milan), Malomo (Roma), Ranocchia (Bari), Renzetti (Albinoleffe)
Midfielders: Barilla' (Reggina), Bolzoni (Inter), Castiglia (Cittadella), Cia (Triestina), Di Gennaro (Reggina), Pasquato (Empoli), Poli (Sassuolo)
Strikers: Immobile (Juventus), Mendicino (Lazio), Paloschi (Parma).

[p_maldini_3]

U-21: Debutants impress Casiraghi
Tuesday 24 March, 2009
Pierluigi Casiraghi has been “very impressedâ€

[p_maldini_3]

U-21: Paloschi pins back Austria
Wednesday 25 March, 2009
The Azzurrini fought back from 2-0 down to hold Austria 2-2 with Alberto Paloschi’s strike in tonight’s debut friendly.

Only six of the players in Coach Pierluigi Casiraghi’s entire squad had previously represented Italy at Under-21 level and many were teenagers, so a shaky start due to a lack of experience was to be expected.

Austria powered into a 2-0 lead thanks to Sand and Baumgartlinder, while a third was disallowed for a very tight offside decision.

Reggina’s David Di Gennaro had Italy’s best chance of the first period, firing wide from Poli’s assist.

The second half was an entirely different affair, as Casiraghi made four substitutions, bringing in Seculin, Crescenzi, Mendicino and Juventus defender Ariaudo.

Purcher gave the Italians a hand when he accidentally turned a Ranocchia corner into his own net, then four minutes later Parma striker Paloschi completed the comeback.

Milan-owned Paloschi gathered with his back to goal, dummied a defender and blasted a right-foot finish under the bar.

Both sides tried to win it, but Seculin did well to parry Kavlak’s late strike, so the final score was 2-2 in Vienna.

This is the Under-21 side that will aim to qualify for the 2011 and 2013 European Championships.

Austria 2-2 Italy
Scorers: Sand 12 (A), Baumgartlinger 37 (A), Purcher og 58 (I), Paloschi 62 (I)

Austria U-21: Königshofer; Piermayr (Seidl 64), Wallner (Ramsebner 46), Margreitter, Pürcher; Bukva, Ilsanker (Nuhiu 46), Baumgartlinger, Kavlak, Jantscher (Gruberbauer 71); Sand (Fröschl 63)
Italy U-21: Fiorillo (Seculin 46); Darmian (Ariaudo 46), Bellusci (Cia 67), Ranocchia, Bolzoni (Castiglia 46); Di Gennaro, Poli, Barillà, Renzetti; Paloschi (Immobile 74), Pasquato (Mendicino 46)
Ref: Willenborg (Ger)

[Carlo Romano]

Denmark v Italy 0-4



Interesting, a tridente of Balotelli, Giovinco, and Aquafresca...


http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_ ... jun9v.html

[tonykart]

Looks like a lethal combination.

[RomaShield27]

European Under-21 tournament preview - Azzurrini ambitious in Sweden
– By Tom Chant

As Italy’s senior squad do battle in South Africa at the Confederations Cup, the youngsters are also carrying the nations hopes across in Sweden with the UEFA European Under-21 Championships gets under way this week. Pierluigi Casiraghi’s men kick off their campaign today against Serbia and will be hopeful of at least a semi-final finish.

The Under-21 Championship has been running since 1972 (then Under-23) and has been in the current Under-21 format from 1978 onwards. The Championship runs every two years and players can play for the whole period (qualification and tournament) as long as they are 21 or under at the time when the first squads are announced. Past winners have most notably included England (two times), Spain (two), Holland (two) and Italy (four). Interestingly, the last tournament in 2007 was the first year as an odd number as the competition moved away from the senior level European Championships in order to prevent players from being called up to the full squad and missing the U-21 Championships despite helping their team qualify.

Sweden is hosting the tournament this year with all of the games taking place on the south-west side of the country in Gothenburg, Halmstad, Helsingborg and Malmo. The final will be played at Malmo New Stadium. Built especially for the tournament, the stadium is the new home of Swedish giants Malmo FF and has a capacity of 21 000. Italy will play all of their group games in Helsingborg in Olympia, one of the oldest stadiums in Sweden. The stadium will also host Italy’s semi-final should the Azzurrini finish top of Group A and Pierluigi Casiraghi will certainly need to make Olympia an adopted home should Italy wish to progress all the way to the final.

The tournament is divided in to two groups - A and B - and the competition is already mapped out. The winner of Group B will face the runner-up of A in the first semi-final while Group A’s winners will host the second placed Group B team. The first semi-final winner will officially be the home team for the final which will be played on Monday June 29. Group A contains Sweden, Belarus, Serbia and Italy. Group B is regarded as slightly tougher with England, Spain, Germany and Finland who will all fancy their chances to progress to the semi-finals.

Spain have been made favourites for the competition but face stiff competition from England and Germany in their group and it would not be too much of a shock if they were to exit at the group stage. Italy, as third favourites to win the competition, will look to finish top of their group but inevitably face a daunting semi-final. Although Sweden, Belarus and Finland are considered to be the make-weights in the competition, Serbia is a dark horse and has finished runner-up on two of the last three occasions. They will look to progress to the semis comfortably and will not give Italy an easy ride in the group stage. As the opening game of Group A, Italy vs. Serbia may well decide the group winners.

Italy’s Under-21s suffered a major setback after the Olympic Games when Gianfranco Zola agreed to take charge at West Ham United. That left Casiraghi alone at the head of Azzurrini, ending a two-year partnership at the helm. However, after an impressive qualifying campaign in which Italy remained unbeaten, they now look to the tournament with a group of youngsters bound together by strong team spirit. Here is the complete squad list for the tournament:

Goalkeepers
Andrea Consigli
Salvatore Sirigu
Andrea Seculin

Defenders
Marco Motta
Marco Andreolli
Domenico Criscito
Lino Marzoratti
Andrea Ranocchia
Francesco Pisano
Salvatore Bocchetti

Midfielders
Piermario Morosini
Ignazio Abate
Claudio Marchisio
Paolo De Ceglie
Antonio Candreva
Andrea Poli
Luca Cigarini
Daniele Dessena

Forwards
Robert Acquafresca
Sebastian Giovinco
Alessio Cerci
Alberto Paloschi
Mario Balotelli

Italy has the most impressive forward line of the whole competition. With Acquafresca, Giovinco and Balotelli, the emphasis for Azzurrini will be on looking to create as many chances as possible up-front. Acquafresca was Italy’s top scorer in qualifying with five goals and is second-favourite to win top goalscorer behind Spaniard Bojan Krkic. Balotelli is just behind them in the odds and will look to build on his brace against Israel which assured qualification for the team. Italy will also look to get De Ceglie and Motta involved as much as possible in order to dominate possession and create opportunities from out wide. Casiraghi’s squad is strong all round and fans and critics alike are eagerly waiting to see just how he fits his wealth of talent into a team.

The Azzurrini’s chances will ultimately be decided in the semi-finals. They need a strong performance in the group stage in order to prepare for the challenge. Qualifying was not the most difficult with Croatia and Greece the only tough opponents and no recorded losses against either. This may go against them and Casiraghi will have to shake his squad into action quickly. If they fail to beat Serbia, it is important to focus on the next two games and ensure progression - not qualifying from the group they are in would be a disappointment for the squad. After the group stage there is the prospect of a semi-final with Germany, Spain or England. It will be essential to keep the ball against these teams as they will look to expose Italy’s attacking full-backs. If Casiraghi can create a defensive rock, essentially needing a holding midfielder, there is no reason why the plethora of ability up-front cannot win any match. If Italy can make it through, then the semi, and hopefully the final, will be great encounters. The talent displayed will certainly make the grade for the Euros in three years time and, like all of the UEFA Under-21Championships before it, will announce the arrival of some of the hottest prospects in world football. Who said the football season was over?


Italy at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Group A
Sweden vs. Belarus - June 16, 2009 - Malmo
Italy vs. Serbia - June 16, 2009 - Helsingborg
Sweden vs. Italy - June 19, 2009 - Helsingborg
Belarus vs. Serbia - June 19, 2009 - Malmo
Serbia vs. Sweden - June 23, 2009 - Malmo
Belarus vs. Italy - June 23, 2009 - Helsingborg

Group B
England 2-1 Finland - June 15, 2009 -Halmstad
Spain 0-0 Germany - June 15, 2009 - Gothenburg
Germany vs. Finland - June 18, 2009 -Halmstad
Spain vs. England - June 18, 2009 - Gothenburg
Finland vs. Spain - June 22, 2009 - Gothenburg
Germany vs. England - June 22, 2009 - Halmstad

Semi-finals
Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up - June 26, 2009 - Helsingborg
Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up - June 26, 2009 -Gothenburg

Final
Semi-final 1 winner vs. Semi-final 2 winner - June 29, 2009 - Malmo

[tonykart]

Go Go Italy

[tonykart]

------------------- CONSIGLI

MOTTA - BOCCHETTI - CRISCITO - DE CEGLIE

----- DESSENA - MARCHISIO - CIGARINI

------------------- GIOVINCO

---------- ACQUAFRESCA - BALOTELLI

We should definitely win.

[juventino_italiano]

[tonykart]

[juventino_italiano]

[tonykart]

[juventino_italiano]