The Official Azzurrini Thread - Italys future stars!

[p_maldini_3]

i would think that, if given the choice, any azzurini player would pick a meaningless friendly with the azzurri over an U21 tournament...

[morra10]

[morra10]

[RomaShield27]

U-21 Championship Preview: Italy – Germany
Two of Europe’s heavyweights will be vying for a spot in this year’s U-21 European final.

www.Goal.com – 25 Jun 2009 08:30:55

Kick-Off: Friday 26 June, 20:45 CET. Olympia Stadium, Helsingborg.

Italy were very disappointing in their opening match of the 2009 U-21 European championships, as they could only manage a 0-0 draw with a resolute Serbian outfit. Since then though, they have gone from strength to strength, with two solid 2-1 victories over both Sweden and Belarus respectively. They progressed through to the semi-finals with seven points, a greater amount then the other three remaining teams in the competition. With this in mind, they are the favourites to take out the title, which would be their sixth in their history. The Azzurrini came into this tournament as the joint favourites alongside Spain and England, and with the Spanish failing to progress through the group stage, a dream final against the English could await the Italians, if they do manage to overcome Germany this week.

In order to give themselves a chance of claiming the crown though, they must see off a German outfit that have conceded just once all tournament, with that coming in a 1-1 draw against the English, the eventual winners of Group B. Italy have won four European championships since 1994 at this level, and if they were to claim their sixth of all-time, then it would see them go four clear of their nearest rivals in terms of titles won over time. This includes the likes of England, Spain, USSR and the Netherlands, all which have won this tournament on two separate occasions. They are the outright favourites for a reason in this competition, so expect the Azzurrini to come out full of confidence when these two sides take to the field on Friday.

Germany scraped through their group with a 1-1 draw with England in the third and final round of matches, which allowed them to finish with five points from their three games, meaning that they are one of the three teams still to taste defeat thus far. The Germans got their campaign underway against Spain, in a result that was always going to have a major impact on the overall result of Group B. They could only manage a 0-0 draw, which placed further pressure on their performance against Finland just a few days later.

After accounting for the Finnish by a 2-0 score line, they were in a much better position, as a single point in their final group game against the English would be enough to advance to the final four of the competition. They have now achieved this, and have the opportunity to progress to their first final since 1982, when ‘West Germany’ went down to England, 5-4 on aggregate. The current German players have the opportunity to take the nation to its first European final at this level as Germany, and then they have the chance to win their first ever crown in this competition. They have it all to play for, so expect them to come out firing, as they will be keen to make their mark right from the onset.


FORM GUIDE

Italy

June 23 v Belarus (N) – WON 2-1

June 19 v Sweden (A) – WON 2-1

June 16 v Serbia (N) – DREW 0-0

June 8 v Denmark (H) – WON 4-0

October 15 v Israel (A) – WON 3-1

Germany

June 22 v England (N) – DREW 1-1

June 18 v Finland (N) – WON 2-0

June 15 v Spain (N) – DREW 0-0

March 31 v Belarus (H) – DREW 1-1

March 27 v Netherlands (H) – LOST 0-4

TEAM NEWS

Italy:

Pierluigi Casiraghi will be boosted by the return of Mario Balotelli from suspension up front, and it is expected that he will immediately be recalled to the starting line-up, where he will play in a forward trident alongside Robert Acquafresca and Sebastian Giovinco.

Unfortunately the Italians will have to do without the suspended Claudio Marchisio though, after he picked up his second booking of the tournament against Belarus, whilst Paolo De Ceglie’s time at the championships are over, following the ankle injury he sustained in the same match.

Possible Starting XI – (4-3-3): Consigli; Motta, Andreolli, Bocchetti, Criscito; Candreva, Cigarini, Dessena; Giovinco, Acquafresca, Balotelli.

Germany:

The Germans may be boosted by the return of their left back Sebastian Boenisch, who is a chance to return from the ankle injury that kept him out against England a few days ago. Gonzalo Castro and Jerome Boateng both took part in the nation’s most recent clash, despite going in under injury clouds, and they are both certainties to take part once again.

Possible Starting XI – (4-4-2): Neuer; Beck, Boateng, Hoewedes, Boenisch; Castro, Khedira, Ebert, Ben-Hatira; Dejagah, Ozil.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Italy – Robert Acquafresca: The 21-year-old hitman has been in scintillating touch throughout this competition, and he will be keen to continue this run of form to lead the Italians to the final. He has managed to find the back of the net on three occasions, including an impressive brace against Belarus.

Germany – Gonzalo Castro: The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder shook off an injury scare to take part in the last match of the group stage against England, and it was he who opened the scoring for the Germans after just five minutes of play. Having made 120 appearances for his German domestic club at the age of just 22, Castro’s experience will be a key component to the performance of his side in this contest.

PREDICTION
It will be a thrilling affair, as two of the pre-tournament favourites go head to head. Italy progressed to the semi-finals with the best record out of the four teams, whilst the Germans conceded the least goals, with just one being scored against them. It promises to be an intense battle, with the Italians narrowly edging their opponents to meet either England or Sweden in the final.

Italy 1-0 Germany

Adrian Del Monte, Goal.com

[morra10]

[Messinterista]

Balotelli back for semi-final

Mario Balotelli will return to the Italian line-up this evening as the Under-21 side face Germany in the European Championship semi-final.

The Inter striker missed the final group game against Belarus through suspension after his dismissal in the win over hosts Sweden.

However, the powerful striker is once more at the disposal of Pierluigi Casiraghi and the tactician is well aware of what the teenager can do.

“He just needs to stay calm and play his own game,â€

[RomaShield27]

What time is this game on?

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[Messinterista]

[RomaShield27]

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[RomaShield27]

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[RomaShield27]

[red]

Good stuff.

Walk into Aberdeen and say 'I ken Ken, ken?' and it makes perfect sense.

[Carlo Romano]

Just as long as our Azzurrini ken how to unlock Germany later, I'll be happy...ken?

[tonykart]

[Carlo Romano]

I don't feel like going into much detail...the Rai commentary team thought Morosini might have been quicker to try to close Beck down and block either player or shot, plus replays show we were denied a clear penalty in injury time.

Our ragazzini put all their young hearts into last night but nothing changes the fact that we had eleven out of twenty seven goal attempts on target and couldn't make one of them count. The Germans had four on target and scored with one.

Desperate defending and some class goalkeeping kept us out. A cynic would also point to the lack of quality of some of our finishing. That said, the way things went for us last night, had the rigore been given, would we have scored with it?

The encouraging difference between our present seniors and our young hopefuls is that last night our Azzurrini could come home with heads held high, having lost with honor!

[RomaShield27]

Casiraghi commits to Azzurrini cause
– Tuesday 30 June 2009

Italy Under-21 coach Pierluigi Casiraghi has signed a new two-year contract with the Italian Football Federation, the deal taking him beyond the next UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in Denmark.

Appointed to replace Claudio Gentile in 2006, Casiraghi guided the Azzurrini to the semi-finals this summer in Sweden where a 1-0 defeat by eventual winners Germany denied Italy a tilt for a sixth success at this level. It was an improvement on two years ago when they failed to reach the knockout stages, and former international striker Casiraghi, 40, will now have at least one more go after committing until summer 2011. Italy face Wales, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Luxembourg in qualifying Group 3, starting with a trip to Wales in September.

[Zoff82]